


A Heart Is A Heavy Burden

by itsameas



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Angst/Fluff, Flirting, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Ice Skating, LOL NEVER MIND THERES ANGST, Like very little, M/M, Merry-Go-Round of Life-Freeform, Minor Angst, Mutual Pining, Pining, Self-Indulgent, Slow Burn, figure skating, literally the angst is like a few paragraphs and then its solved, no beta we die like men, yeah its based off the song from howl's moving castle
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:54:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 22,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28331211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itsameas/pseuds/itsameas
Summary: "Are you ready?""If I'm by your side, I'll be ready for anything."The lights focus on the, ice glittering beneath them, cold air swirled above them."One more thing.""Yeah?""I love you."Then the music started.
Relationships: Clay | Dream & GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream/GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF)
Comments: 24
Kudos: 82





	1. The Flight

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic on AO3! Some self-indulgent winter fluff tbh. All temperatures in this story are in Fahrenheit!

It was a cool day for Florida, only 61 degrees out. Dream sat right outside the gate, waiting for his friend’s flight that was coming in. He was getting impatient, and cold.

“Come on, plane. Can’t you come any faster?” He muttered to himself, staring out the massive window that showed the runway. Dream sighed and crossed his arms over his chest. The airport was almost completely empty, minus the few people like him waiting for flights to come in. Most people were desperately trying to stay awake, it was quiet and dark and so fucking cold. Dream pulled out his phone, 10:31 p.m., George’s flight was a minute late from landing. He sighed again and stood up to stretch. Might as well go get something to snack on since I’m going to be here for a while, Dream thought to himself. Just as he started to walk towards the airport gift shop a little ding went off on his phone.

Georgie: Guess who

Dream sighed to himself and turned back to the gate.

McDreamy: Don’t tell me you’re about to land

Dream looked up and saw the workers tiredly prepare the gate.

Georgie: Aww you aren’t excited to see me? :[

McDreamy: I’m excited to go to bed.

Georgie: You’re always excited to go to bed

Dream looked up and saw the plane pull to a stop in front of the window, the gate extended out to meet the plane. He chuckled to himself.

McDreamy: Shut up and come on

Georgie: Ouch, so harsh, Dream. You hurt me.

Dream rolled his eyes as he watched the first few people start to slowly stumble into the airport. Can these people be any slower, Dream thought to himself, he knew it was a rude thought but he was tired and honestly, really excited to see his friend. Finally, the wave of people started to pour out of the aircraft and into the airport. Dream’s eyes darted around, searching for his friend. However George saw him first.

“Dream!” George screamed, crushing Dream into a hug and earning them both tired and annoyed glances from the other passengers.

“Jeez, George! You’re going to crush my lungs!”

“Sorry! I’m just happy to see you again, it’s been so long,” George smiled up at him. 

The realization of how close they were hit Dream like a truck. He backed away suddenly and rubbed the back of his neck, glancing off into space, “We should get going, it’s getting late and we have an early day tomorrow. Did you have dinner on the plane?”

“...No.”

“George! Why didn’t you eat on the plane?”

“Because airplane food is gross!” George started walking towards the baggage claim, “Last one to the claim buys dinner!” Then he sprinted.

“Hey! Wait that’s not fair!” Dream shouted as he started in long strides after George, “Oh George!” 

Their footsteps echoed through the empty airport walls as their laughs bounced off the ceilings. The few travellers and workers were sharing glances of confusion as the boy chased each other through the halls. Dream started to catch up to George, feeling the sweat start to drip from his forehead. He focused on George, he didn’t have to win the race because he’d pay for dinner either way, he just wanted to beat him. 

His first mistake was when he tried to wipe the sweat from his cheek.

“Getting tired already, Dreamy?” George teased, looking over his shoulder at Dream. It was obvious that George was tired too but he hid it decently.

Dream, on the other hand, was completely distracted. 

George’s smile burned a harsh imprint into his mind. A foreign feeling swelled in his chest. Dream’s mind started to wonder further, Wow he really is pretty, he sighed. His mind swirled, flurries of moments over the years collided one another. From when they first met online, their first time meeting one another in person, every single time they skated together, the night they decided that George would move to America so they could skate competitively more. He was suddenly snapped out of his thoughts as George quickly threw his hands up in the air.

“Yes! I win! Suck it green boy!” George cheered, the baggage conveyor was already moving and people were grabbing their bags, he piped up and quickly reached down to grab a bag off the conveyor, “Oh, how convenient, it came right to me.”

Dream ran a hand through his hair, chuckling, “You only one because you cheated,” he looked down at George’s bag, “That’s all you brought? Aren’t you, I don’t know, living here now?” Dream asked sarcastically.

“This is just for now, dumbass. Only the necessities, some clothes, shower items, and of course my skates,” George rolled his eyes, “Now hurry up, I’m tired and hungry.” 

“I’m getting you McDonalds.”

“Oh boo! Not a five star restaurant? I’m so disappointed,” George rolled his eyes and laughed, his head tilted back a little.

Dream was a mess. His heart fluttering, a frog wedged in his throat, his hands became clammy. He cleared his throat, “Shut up already!” Damnit, George, “Come on, I want to go to bed.” 

Without another word, the two walked out of the airport and outside to the silver car parked on the side of the road, chilly air swirling around them. The temperature had dropped slightly since George landed, Dream pulled out his phone again. It was 58 degrees now. He clicked on his keys and popped the trunk so George didn’t have to hold his bags. He made his way to the front seat and before he slid in George shouted from the back.

“You aren’t going to open my door for me? Wow, real classy!”

“You have two arms, George!” Dream laughed and slid into the driver’s seat, starting the car. Shortly after George plopped into the passenger’s seat next to him and sighed leaning his head on the window. Dream turned his head out of confusion and George sighed.

“Why are you staring, do I have something on my face?” George started to prod at his face as he looked at himself in the side mirror.

“It’s nothing, man. I was just checking to see if my right mirror was out y’know?”

George gave a lazy thumbs up and went back to leaning on his window. Dream started down the street, quickly getting on the freeway, drumming his thumbs on the wheel to some song that was coming through the radio. He glanced back over at George, who was now peacefully sleeping on the window. Street lights gliding over his face, soft snores danced their way into the car, and Dream was once again awestruck by how effortlessly pretty his friend was. No wonder the judges always favor him during comps, pretty privilege. And with that, he returned his eyes to the road, gliding down the empty Florida highway, sneaking quick glances at his sleeping friend.


	2. Chapter 2

George had no idea what he was doing. 

It was already morning and he was skating around in the ice rink. Dream said he was going to go grab some breakfast since they were so early to the rink that even their coach wasn’t there. So George decided to warm up. He skated in lazy circles, listening to the gentle scrape of his blades against the ice. All he could think about was Dream. His annoying laugh, his stupid hair, the idiotic way he smiled. George sighed to himself and skated over to his phone that was sitting on the wall, plugged into the aux. He scrolled through his playlist until he landed on one specific song.

“Bingo,” He quickly pressed play and skated to the middle of the rink as harp strums start playing over the speaker softly. It was from The Nutcracker, more specifically No. 14 Pas de deux, a beautiful song filled with harp and strings with some french horn and woodwinds mixed in. 

He started to glide backwards, arms fully extended at his sides. Gentle and graceful. The strings made their entrance softly in smooth crescendos and decrescendos. He started into a quick spin and a simple toe loop and landed it easily. His limbs moving, each motion bled with emotion. Then as the music started to pick up, he leaped again this time into a double axel. He knew this song and routine like the back of his hand, it was the first ever partner skate he ever did. It was the first routine he ever did with Dream. He remembered each jump, each lift, mimicking the movements like a ballerina, dancing with an invisible Dream. He remembered the laughs shared between them over how silly the lifts felt, George continued with the routine feeling the ghost touch of Dream’s hands on his waist. Then his favorite part came, the fast acceleration of the music, the build up to the climax of the piece. He reached his arms out to gain momentum, blades stuttering on the ice like a dance, followed by a multitude of spins that led into his hardest jump, a triple axel. He leaped into the air, holding his breath as he spun. Why are you still here even when you aren’t, Dream. Then he landed, right when all the strings and winds silenced themselves for a split second. Stop haunting me. Then as they reached the end, right before the staccato notes, he mimicked the dance he and Dream did. Then the staccatos punctured through the air and he started into a spin that felt endless, arms holding his chest tightly as he slowly spun towards the ice. He broke out and started the mirrored movements he did at the end with dream and ended with his arm outstretched towards where the judges would sit. His chest puffed out as he took deep breaths, sweat dripped from his forehead. Then he heard faint claps from across the rink. Shit.

“Wow, George, that was stunning,” Dream said smiling, holding a brown paper bag, “Now come here, I brought some bagels and oatmeal with fruit.”

George let his arm fall and turned to Dream, “How long were you standing there?” He stretched his arms up and over his head, hearing a small pop in his back.

“Almost the whole time, I was gonna tell you I brought food but you looked way too focused. Besides, I would never turn down a chance to see you skate.”

George’s cheeks flushed slightly as he took off his skates and grabbed a bagel from out of the bag. He stretched his legs out and flexed his feet, “You’re such a simp,” George muttered.

Dream scoffed and laughed lightly, “No I just like pointing out your flaws. Like when you were doing the first dance part you were off a beat.”

“No I wasn’t! You’re the one that’s always too fast!” George said, joining in the fit of giggles. The giggles erupted into full blown cackling and wheezing as they picked apart one another’s little quirks they noticed. More and more time passed and soon they realized it was noon and their coach walked in.

“Boys, why are you on the ground?” A woman’s voice came from the entrance, hands firmly on her hips and an eyebrow raised.

Dream immediately got up off the ground and went red with embarrassment, “Sorry, Susan!”

George pointed aggressively at Dream, “Dream started it!”

“Wh- No I didn’t!” Dream shouted, shoving George a little on the bench. With this, they immediately started shoving and slapping each other, putting the blame on one another.

Susan sighed and rubbed her eyebrows, “Just...do you want to hear the routine I put together for you children or not?”

Dream and George pulled away from one another and stared at the very annoyed woman, “Yes please,” They said in unison. 

Susan laughed and plugged in her phone to the aux, handing George his. She smiled and scrolled through her phone, “The theme for this year is love story,” George looked at Dream quickly and returned his attention to Susan, “The song we will be using is Merry-Go-Round of Life from the movie Howl’s Moving Castle. The song is, quite literally, about the ups and downs of life. George,” George piped up at his name and nodded, “You will be playing the role of Sophie Hatter, the main character and love interest of Dream’s character,” Suddenly George is holding his breath and he looks over at Dream who seems to be completely fine, “Dream you will be playing the role Howl, Sophie’s love interest. With this routine we will tell the story of Sophie and Howl as well as many others who fell in love the same way. Practice starts now, we have three months before our first competition. I want this routine to be flawless, we are up against some big competitors this year. Now, get to stretching.”

As Susan walked over to her bench, sitting her belongings out, George looked over at Dream, “Why am I always the girl?”

Dream laughed quietly so that Susan didn’t get annoyed with them again, “It’s because I’m so much taller than you, Georgie.”

George looked away again, a pink tint spread across his cheeks for the second time that day, What the- “Oh come on, we have a routine to practice.”  
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“No...no! Your arms are too high on his waist! You might as well be holding his chest! Again!” Susan clapped her hands together and the boys circled back around to face away from one another. 

George sighed as the piano music started up again and looked back at Dream, he started skating away as the strings came in with the winds, doing a sequence of spins and small leaps, then the light percussion came in as Dream’s hands found his waist and he looked back at him, smiling at his friends focused look. 

“Yes! There you go! Perfect!” Susan paused the music and waved her hands for the boys to come to her, “And George, I love how you looked back at him! That was perfect!” 

George jumped a little and looked away as Dream cocked an eyebrow and smiled, “Hm? Staring at me now, are you?” Dream said smugly.

“Oh shut up, I just wanted to see how dumb you looked,” George retorts as he skated towards the wall, still looking away from Dream. They’ve been practicing the beginning for hours now, George looked at the clock, 5 p.m. sharp. 

“Okay, boys, good work today. Oh and one more thing, have you guys watched Howl’s Moving Castle?”

George and Dream looked at each other and back at Susan, shaking their heads.

“Okay well,” Susan sighed, “That’s your homework assignment for tonight, I want you both to watch it. And no excuses, I know you guys are living together so there isn’t a problem there. Now go get some rest, you have an earlier day tomorrow.” Susan grabbed her bag and walked out of the rink, George looked at Dream again and sighed.

“What do you want for dinner?” George asked and Dream jumped a little, it looked like he wasn’t listening to what he said at all.

“Oh sorry, George! I didn’t hear you, can you repeat that?”

“I asked what you wanted for dinner. Is everything okay? It’s not like you to doze off like that, especially when Susan is talking.”

“Oh! Yeah I’m fine, just tired I guess. And I’m not sure, I guess I’m in the mood for pasta. Y’know, carbo load before tomorrow?” Dream yawned and stretched out his arms.

“Cool, so I’m making spaghetti, you can do the dishes,” George said, grabbing his skates and water bottle as he walked out of the rink.  
“Hey! Wait! We never agreed to anything!” Dream shouted, running after his friend. It was too late though, George had already made up his mind. 

They sat in the car, talking loudly over the radio about their new routine. Both were extremely excited, the energy was static throughout the entire car ride home. Running into small traffic as it was rush hour. The same song playing over and over again, Merry-Go-Round of Life, cemented in their heads. They talked about what jumps and lifts were going to go where, how each section of the song made them feel. They smiled and laughed with one another the entire time. Finally, after a forty-five minute car ride, they pulled into the driveway.

“I’ll go get started with dinner and you find a way we can watch that movie,” George said as he grabbed his skates from the back of Dream’s car. He quickly ran inside, dropped everything in his room, and immediately started with the pasta. He heard Dream come in shortly after and heard a soft thump in the other room and George went in to go see what he was doing. 

That’s when he saw him. Dream was stretched out lazily on his back, one arm resting above his head on the arm of the couch and the other holding the remote for the TV. He was mindlessly scrolling through HBO Max trying to find the movie. What most people would see as normal, George saw as breathtaking. Suddenly he noticed every small detail, how his arms had tiny veins that popped out slightly, his eyebrows that knitted together in focus as he tried finding the movie, how his lips were pressed together in a fine line. George stood there for a minute, admiring him, until he heard a small ding from the kitchen that signaled the garlic bread was done. He quickly turned around and rushed to the kitchen, pulling the garlic bread out of the stove and placing it on the counter. He sighed and started mixing the pasta and sauce together.

“Damnit, Dream,” He said to himself, mindlessly stirring, “Why are you so...you? Ugh,” He looked at the noodles and sighed again, he walked over to the cabinet to grab two plates and sat them on the counter. He looked at the faint reflection of himself in the window and laughed to himself, Maybe I’m the simp, “Dream! Come get your food before it gets cold!”

“Coming, mom!” Dream shouted from the other room, laughing as he walked in.

As the two boys started gorging their food down, Dream started the movie. George instantly loved it, the colors, the atmosphere, the voices. He was entranced by the movie. About forty-five minutes into the movie, he felt himself yawn as he started to doze off. He decided to let his eyes flutter shut as his head lulled to the side. Shortly after that, he was passed out. 

Dream on the other hand, was wide awake.

He felt a small weight on his shoulder and turned to see what it was. To his dismay, there laid George, knocked out, small snores escaping his lips. Dream felt a blush flood his face, Holy shit, he thought to himself, George is...asleep...on my shoulder. He tried to turn his attention back to the movie but he couldn’t. His mind started to wonder and he subconsciously wrapped his arm around George, feeling him shift slightly. George cuddled up closer to Dream and wrapped an arm around his waist. Dream was in awe, dumbstruck, absolutely entranced by how stunning George was up close. He took note of how he had faint freckles painted across his nose, how there was a small stubble because he hadn’t shaved recently. He noticed how soft his hair felt and how he smelled like lavender with a hint of vanilla. Dream found himself drifting off to sleep too, he didn’t fight it, all he remembered was letting his head rest on top of George’s and a soft piano in the background of the movie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Long chapter today! Criticism and suggestions is completely fine and encouraged. If Dream, George, or any other CCs involved are uncomfortable by this I will take it down immediately. I'll update as frequently as possible!


	3. Chapter 3

Dream was the first to wake up.

A familiar ache creeped up his neck and he groaned, rolling out his neck. He looked down and reality punched him in the gut. George was still there, sleeping like a baby, unbothered by Dream’s slight jump. _Fuck_ , Dream thought to himself and tapped on his phone lazily to check the time. 5:47 in the morning. _Shit shit shit_ , Dream started shaking George frantically, doing his best to wake his friend up.

George slowly got up, rubbing his eyes, “Hmm...what is it?” His words slurred, he was obviously tired as hell.

“We have thirteen minutes to get to the rink.”

“Oh fuck.”

Both boys sprinted to their rooms, quickly getting changed and grabbing their skates. They bolted out the door and hopped into the car. Dream started driving, fast. George wasn’t worried, he was used to Dream’s speeding, especially since they were about to be late to practice and Susan was going to kill them. Then, out of nowhere, Dream started laughing. George looked at his friend, raising an eyebrow, “What’s so funny?”

“Nothing! It’s just,” He started to sound like a kettle, “You just have a little something there,” He pointed at his mouth, still laughing.

“What?” George started rubbing his mouth, trying to find whatever was on his face, “No there’s not, you’re blind.”

They pulled up to a red light and Dream turned towards him, “No, dumbass,” He laughed and reached his hand to cup George’s cheek, “You have some spaghetti sauce right here,” He used his thumb to rub the corner of George’s mouth.

Dream didn’t realize how close they were until he looked into George’s eyes. A thick tension rose into the air of the car. His eyes flickered between his eyes and his lips, he never realized how George’s eyes had small specks of gold or how his lips look so soft and smooth. Dream didn’t realize how he was slowly leaning in. Time seemed slow, it felt like the world was made up of only them. He didn’t know what George was thinking, but he could have sworn he saw something flash in his eyes.

“Clay,” George whispered, uncertainty and hope danced in his eyes.

“Is this okay?” Dream asked, he never sounded more worried in his life.

George opened his mouth to speak but he was interrupted by a loud honk coming from the car behind them. They both immediately pulled away from one another and Dream started driving again. His hands went clammy as his thoughts rampaged through his head, What the hell was that? Why did I just do that? Did we almost kiss? What? Dream thought to himself. He looked over at George, who was staring out his window.

“So…” Dream said, “Should we talk about what just happened?”

George looked up, a small smile sat on his face, “Later.”

And with that, Dream just nodded as he pulled into the rink, it was 6:13 now. He smiled to himself, he assumed from the smile that George wasn’t creeped out or anything. He grabbed his stuff out of the back of his car.

“Susan is going to kill us.”

Dream started laughing, “We’re going to be lucky if she lets us leave at 6.”

They both stopped laughing as they heard the faint click of boots against the concrete. They both slowly turned, horror slowly seeped into their hearts.

“You’re late,” Susan said, arms folded over her chest, “Get inside.”

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“I told you guys, we start at six. Every practice starts at six in the morning, not six o’ one, not six ten, six on the dot. I can’t believe I have to repeat myself after years of doing this with the two of…” Susan droned on and on, disappointment laid thick with every word. Dream wasn’t listening, he kept thinking back to what happened in the car. He remembered how soft George’s skin felt, how his cheeks were dusted light pink. He thought about what would’ve happened if they weren’t interrupted by the car horn, he wondered how his lips felt against his. He felt a tug on his arm and he was snapped out of his thoughts.

“Understood, boys?”

George piped up, “Yes ma’am.”

Dream held back a laugh, “Absolutely, Susan.”

“Good, now it’s time to work. Go stretch and warm up, we have a lot to cover today!” Susan’s cold stare turned into a smile as she turned to go grab some things.

George turned to Dream as they walked over to their lockers, “Did you hear a single word she said?”

“Nope!” Dream laughed and plopped onto the ground, stretching his legs out, “Were you paying attention?”

“I didn’t realize she was talking until the end,” They both erupted into fits of laughter, Dream wiped a tear from his eye and stood up, extending out a hand for George.

“C’mon, we have to go before we get yelled at again,” Dream said, happiness laced each word and George grabbed his hand, smiling back at him.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Susan was yelling at them again, but this time out of excitement.

“Yes! Perfect! Okay maybe not perfect but close. Try to get more speed on that jump George and spin a little tighter.”

“Got it, boss!” George shouted, skating back around towards the middle of the rink.

Dream was sitting on the bench watching. They were in the middle of doing one on one work and George was first up. He focused on how he jumped, each one seemed effortless. Leaps were definitely his specialty. George glided on the ice, matching the beat of the song. He gained more speed as he went into a toe loop. Dream held his breath waiting for him to land, until George’s blade slipped at an angle, and he fell.

“Shit!” George shouted, holding his left leg, “That hurt damnit.”

“George! Are you okay?!” Susan shouted, running out onto the ice, barely keeping her balance. Dream followed quickly after.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine,” George looked up and smiled, “My ankle just hurts a little it’s fine.”

“Let me see,” Dream chimed in and George gave him a questioning look, but lifted his hands off of his ankle and placed them down at his sides. Dream lifted his pant leg a little and George winced, “Sorry.”

“It’s fine, no worries,” George looked up at Dream with a pained smile.  
“I’m going to go grab an ice pack,” Susan said standing up, brushing some of the frost off her legs.

“Aren’t we on a massive sheet of ice?” George asked sarcastically, laughing a little too hard, flinching as his ankle shifted.

“Stop being a smartass, George,” She said, exiting the rink shortly after.

Dream laughed a little and looked up at George, “How are you still laughing? Aren’t you in pain?”

“Oh, yeah no I am in copious amounts of pain,” George leaned his head to the side, “So do you wanna talk about what happened earlier?”

“I mean if you wanna, I don’t mind,” Dream said, tearing his attention away from his friend.

“Well...was there really something on my mouth?” George asked and Dream laughed.

“No, I did that just to be a tease,” Dream rolled his eyes, “Yes, George, you did have spaghetti sauce on your face leftover from dinner.”

“Interesting, anyways why did you-”

“I’m back with the ice!” Susan ran back onto the ice and slid over to George, “Let’s get you to the benches and have you rest up a bit, Dream you guys can leave early today. Make sure to keep the ankle elevated. You guys can have the day off tomorrow.”

George looked up at Susan confused, “Are you sure? It isn’t that serious, probably just a little sore that’s all.”

“I’m not risking losing half of my best team two weeks before our first qualifiers.”

“Wait, I thought you said we had three months until our competition?” George said as Dream helped him up, his arm draped across his shoulder.

“Yeah, our first serious competition. I never said anything about qualifiers? Sorry about that,” Susan shrugged.

“Susan! What the hell?!” George shouted, “We haven’t even gotten to our ice dances yet and now I’m injured and-”

“Didn’t you just say it was a little sore? Now stop whining and go home. Dream, make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid, okay?”

“Got it boss,” Dream said, mimicking a salute, “Now come on, George. I gotta go nurse you back to health.”

George huffed and rolled his eyes, “Fine.”

“Good, I’ll see you boys in a few days, got it? And not a minute late,” Susan squinted.

“Yes, ma’am,” Dream said, practically dragging George out of the rink.

As they walked, well...hobbled to the car, George sighed.

“Why do I have to get hurt?”

Dream turned his head in concern, “I’m sorry that you landed wrong.”

“Why are you apologizing? You aren’t my skate.”

“I know, I just-”

“Feel bad for me? Don’t,” George said, obviously annoyed, “Let’s just drop it.”

“Oh, okay sure! Whatever makes you feel better, man,” Dream practically whispered. He didn’t want to annoy him anymore than he was. He knew he wasn’t the cause of his bad mood, but he also knew exactly how his friend acted whenever he was sick or hurt.

“Hey, Dream.”

“Yeah?”

“Sorry for being a dick.”

Dream started laughing, “No need to apologize! I get it!”

And suddenly, all the tension in the air left, replaced with laughter and light banter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Lol sup, it's 2:30 a.m. and I can't sleep so writing time! Criticism and suggestions is completely fine and encouraged. If Dream, George, or any other CCs involved are uncomfortable by this I will take it down immediately. I'll update as frequently as possible!


	4. Chapter 4

The week seemed to breeze by. Susan decided to take the risk and let the boys have the last few days of the week off. She constantly text Dream making sure that George was okay. Even though she was strict, she had a good heart. Dream thought of her like a second mom, he knew why she was strict, it was her job.

Dream reached over to grab his phone off of his night stand. He scrolled through twitter, liking a few posts. A ding rang through his phone and a text message came down onto his screen.

Sap: Dreammmmmmmmmmm

McDreamy: What’s up

Sap: Call me

Dream sighed and clicked the call button.

“Hey, Dream!” Sapnap shouted, energy seeping through the phone, “What are ya doing today?”

Dream sat up and stretched, “Probably just lounging today, today is the last day before George and I have practice tomorrow.”

“Well...could you come to the airport by any chance?”

“Why?” Dream slipped on a pair of house slippers and started walking out of his room. He walked immediately into his kitchen, reaching into his freezer to grab some freezer waffles, “Wait...don’t tell me…”

“It’s Sunday, Dream.”

“So you’re…”

“Here? Yes,” Sapnap started to laugh, “Dude did you forget I was coming into town to see you and George skate? Besides I couldn’t miss seeing Susan again.”

“Oh shit! Yeah, oh my god, I’m on my way now,” The waffles popped out of the toaster and he tossed them onto a paper plate, “Let me leave a note for George so he doesn’t think I abandoned him. And don’t flirt with Susan again, please.”

“Aww, Gogy isn’t coming?” Sapnap pouted, ignoring the last part of Dream’s plea.

“Dude, it’s seven in the morning, do you really think he’s up right now?” Dream said, quickly taking a bite out of his waffle as he scribbled down a quick note just in case George woke up, “Man sleeps through hurricanes, I swear.”

Sapnap laughed loudly through the phone, “You aren’t wrong. Anyways, I gotta go grab my bags from the claim and stand in the Starbucks line for forty minutes to get a semi warm mocha.”

“Alright,” Dream said, taking another bite out of his waffle as he walked to the door, still in pajamas, “I’ll be there soon, see ya. Don’t die.”

“I don’t plan to,” Dream could practically hear the eye roll through the phone, “Drive safe, ‘kay?”

“I always do,” And with that, Dream hung up the phone. He walked over to the driver side and sat down, starting the car.

He toyed with the aux as he scrolled through his playlist. A familiar progression of notes poured through the speakers. Dream started driving down the road, bopping his head to the beat, mindlessly tapping his thumbs on the wheel.

He started going through the routine in his head. Dream rolled his neck, maybe he should take George out to work out his ankle. They still needed to talk about what happened, but every single time Dream brought it up, George either disregarded it completely or didn’t hear him. To be fair, he did have a sprained ankle and was more worried about his career.

The smell of the city mixed in with the ocean air filled the car and wind blew back his hair. Dream took in a deep breath and sighed, he loved driving in the morning. It wasn’t extremely hot or humid. It was Sunday so no one was on the freeway this early. The hum of the engine mixed with the quiet classical music was strangely calming. That was until a loud chime dragged him out of his thoughts. It was a call from George.

Dream quickly pressed accept, call connecting to the bluetooth, “Hey, is something up?”

“Where are you?” A very tired yet worried George said.

“I’m on my way to the airport, did you read my note?” Dream asked, merging to the right lane of the highway, more cars becoming apparent.

“Not yet,” a yawn came through the speakers of the car, “Why are you going to the airport? Is a family member flying in or something?”

Dream chuckled, “Something like that. Go read my note, I left a waffle for you on the counter too.”

“Hmph, fine,” Another yawn flowed through the speakers followed by footsteps, “Thanks for the waffle.”

“No problem, did you read the note yet?” Dream realized that he was pulling up to the airport when he saw an airplane take off.

“Wait a minute,” Dream started to laugh at George’s realization, “Oh my god...that’s today?”

Dream pulled over where it said pickup and picked up his phone to send Sapnap a quick text, “I’m glad to know that you are also a bad friend.”

George scoffed through the phone, “Wh-what? No way. I am an amazing friend.”

Dream looked out the window and saw a very excited Sapnap running up to the car. Dream pointed at his phone and put a finger up to his lips, to this the other nodded and quietly opened the car door, “You literally forgot Sapnap was coming!” Both of them stifled their laughs.

“Well you did too!” George shouted, “Besides a lot has been on my mind recently.”

“Oh? Like what? How could you forget about me, Georgie, I am so upset.”

“Wait, you already picked him up?!” George shouted again, which made Dream absolutely lose it. He bent over, gripping the steering wheel like it was the only thing keeping him grounded.

“Actually,” Dream said in between wheezes, gasping for air, “He just got here.”

Sapnap through his bags into the back and hopped into the passenger's seat, “Yeah, yeah, I know the fan favorite is here now. Hold your applause, please.”

“Whatever,” George yawned again, “I’m going back to bed, I can’t deal with either of you this early in the morning.”

Dream coughed trying to catch his breath, “George! Wait!” And then a small beep, George had hung up.

“So, how’s the living situation?” Sapnap questioned, fastening his seatbelt and taking the aux from Dream’s phone.

“Honestly, it’s fine,” Dream said, grabbing his water bottle out of the cup holder to take a drink, “There have been some...uh...instances that were...intimate? I don’t know how to put it.”

“Oh, like how you almost kissed George the other day?”

Dream froze, “Wait, how do you know about-”

“George told me about it,” Sapnap said simply, “I’m surprised you didn’t talk to me before him.”

“Oh…” Dream ran his hand through his hair, starting the car with his other hand, “Can I talk to you about something?”

“Anything, dude,” Sapnap smiled, “Unless if it’s like, you’re sex life. I don’t need that much information.”

Dream laughed lightly, a weight lifted off his chest. This was one of his best friends he was talking to. They’ve been through everything together since they were younger. Dream had told him everything that has ever happened to him and Sapnap did the same. He started to pull out of the airport slowly.

“I think I like George. I mean, of course I like him as a friend but I mean like I like him more than friends, y’know? Like, I don’t know. Stuff has been different since he moved in and I...I don’t know what I feel. I just-”

“Dude, I get it, you like George,” Sapnap laughed and rolled his eyes, “It’s so painfully obvious.”

“Really?” Dream thought back to the second night George was there, how he fit so perfectly in his arms. Back to when George crushed him in a hug when he first got there, how he didn’t want him to let go. Back to when George was warming up to last year’s routine, how it struck a chord in his heart that rang through every part of his body. Back to the last week taking care of George, how he didn’t mind a second of it. He sighed to himself, “Yeah, I guess it is.”

“I’m surprised you just noticed this,” Sapnap said, scrolling through his phone.

“What do you mean?”

“Dude,” Sapnap put down his phone and stared at his friend, “Ever since you guys had your first routine together, you’ve treated him differently than everyone else in your life. At first I thought it was because you didn’t like him until I saw how you look at him.”

Dream kept his eyes on the road, but tilted his head to the side, “How I look at him?”

“For a genius, you really are oblivious,” Sapnap sighed, rubbing his eyes, “You look at him like he’s the only person in the world. Not to mention when you guys skate, it’s like you guys are in your own little world, away from everyone. It’s so sweet, it makes my teeth hurt.”

“Huh,” Dream shrugged, “Wanna pick something up to eat?”

“Wh-...You just told me that you, romantically, like your best friend and partner that you’ve skated with for years at this point and your response is, ‘Wanna pick something up to eat?’” Sapnap just stared at him, put off by how casually Dream was acting.

Dream hated lying to Sapnap, “It’s fine, dude. Talking about my feelings makes me hungry,” Dream honestly didn’t know what to feel, “So I’ll ask again,” If he was being honest, he felt sick, “What do you wanna eat?”

Sapnap raised an eyebrow, but decided not to pry any further, “Where’s the nearest Taco Bell?”

“About five minutes away,” Dream said, tapping the wheel impatiently.

He needed to get to that Taco Bell as fast as he could. His mind raced, his brain was moving too fast for him to concentrate. Jesus, how did I not notice this before. He kept his eyes on the road, gripping the steering wheel. Is that why George has been acting weird, did he notice too? He felt the blood rush to his face, it felt like he was burning alive. _Fuck, I need to...I need to fix this somehow. How could I be so stupid? Does he even like guys like that? I fucked up, oh my-_

“Dream, I think we passed the Taco Bell.”

“What?”

“The Taco Bell,” Sapnap looked over, “Are you okay, man? You’ve been silent ever since our last conversation.”

“Oh, yeah...uh sorry about that,” Dream said and pulled into a parking lot of a shopping centre, making his way down to Taco Bell.

“You’re a horrible liar, you know that right?” Sapnap turned towards Dream completely as the car pulled to a stop, “What’s wrong?”

Dream put his head down and turned towards his friend, a poor excuse of a smile on his face, “We’ll talk about it later,” _Can you stop lying to him?,_ “Let’s just go grab our shitty tacos,” _I guess you can’t stop lying._

Sapnap didn’t seem to pick up on it that time, “Hell yeah! Let’s go, I’ve been craving a crunchwrap!”

Dream laughed as they got out of the car and walked towards the entrance. He looked at Sapnap as he ranted on about how Taco Bell would’ve been unbeatable if they kept their potato options. He laughed at how excited he was over it all.

_I’ll tell you soon enough. Just give me time._

“Hey, promise me that I can sit and watch your guys’ practices this week. I don’t wanna sit in a house all by myself for twelve hours a day.”

_All I need is a little more time._

“I promise,” Dream said, smiling.

_I’m not going to lie to you again._

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

By the time the two got back to the house, George was cleaning up the dishes left over from their dinner last night. He was feeling better overall, the swelling in his ankle went down and the pain was gone. Physically he was great. Mentally was a different story.

He had no idea what was happening in his head. It was a hurricane stuck in a bottle. The night after the car incident blew by, George immediately decided to go to bed immediately after they got home. He was laying in his bed, contemplating on what the hell happened. He was confused. He rolled over and scrolled through his phone. Next thing he knew he was in his contacts, thumb hovering over Sapnap’s contact. He sighed and hit the call button.

The phone rang three times then a very tired sounding Sapnap came over the phone, “Hello? George? Is everything okay? It’s late.”

“Can I talk to you about something?” George asked, half of his face shoved into the pillow. His comforter pulled up over his head. He tried his best to be quiet so Dream wouldn’t wake up.

“Yeah, what’s up?” Sapnap yawned quietly. George felt bad for waking him up, or keeping him up.

“So, uhm…” George sighed, shoving his face further into the pillow, “I almost kissed Dream today on our way to practice and I don’t know why I did we were just so close and-”

“Wait wait wait, slow down,” Sapnap sighed, “You guys almost what?”

George turned his head out of his pillow again, “We almost kissed.”

“Oh,” Sapnap said, “Oh shit.”

“Mmhmm…” George mumbled, “I don’t know what to do, Sap. Like why would I do that? We were just so close and...and…” George groaned and shoved his head back into his pillow, “I’m so stupid, Sap.”

“You aren’t stupid, George. You’re navigating this whole situation for the first time,” George could hear rustling on the other end of the line, “It’s alright to be frustrated.”

George flipped onto his back, running a hand through his hair, “I don’t know what to do.”

“Well, I can help with that,” George heard taps of a keyboard, “I’m one of your best friends, it’s part of the job.”

“What are you doing?”

“Booking a flight to Florida.”

“What?! No, Sap, that’s too much to ask,” George shot up in bed, “You’re joking.”

“Nope,” George felt his phone vibrate, “Check your messages.”

George pulled the phone away from his ear and put him on speaker. He clicked on Sapnap’s messages and saw the photo, one ticket booked. Oh my god.

“What are you going to tell Dream?” George asked, taking him off speaker, “You’re showing up a week from today out of the blue.”

“Well I already was planning on coming to watch your guys' season anyways,” Sapnap laughed, “But now I get to also help guide you guys on your love journey.”

“Shut up,” He heard Sapnap laughing in the background.

“I’m texting Dream right now,” Sapnap said, “Don’t get all worked up.”

George sighed and flopped back onto his bed, “Fine, I’ll see you this Sunday then?”

“I’ll see you Sunday, Georgie,” And with that, the phone beeped and George was left in silence.

Snapped back to reality, George turned his head towards the door and was greeted with a very loud Sapnap.

“Honey I’m home!” Sapnap shouted, rolling his bags in and tossing them in the living room, “Hey, Georgie! How has your day been,” He said, crushing George into a hug.

“It’s been good,” George squeaked out, “You’re crushing my…” He gasped for dramatic effect, “My lungs…”

Sapnap squeezed harder, causing George to flail. George and Sapnap were play fighting now, laughing as they playfully jabbed at one another. Neither of them noticed Dream walking in.

“Guys,” Dream said in a fake stern voice, “What’s this?”

George and Sapnap instantly pulled away, hands raised, “Sorry, Dream. Won’t do it again,” Sapnap said and George erupted again with laughter.

“Well, I don’t want you to hurt my partner,” Dream sighed, “For the second time before the season even started.”

George scoffed, “Oh shut up.”

The boys all erupted in laughter and continued picking jokes with one another.

  
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A few hours later, the three found themselves lounging out on the couch. A random movie Sapnap picked was playing in the background as they chatted, him and Dream tossing popcorn at one another seeing who could catch the most in their mouth. George rolled his eyes and stood up.

“I’m going to go grab some more popcorn,” he said, stretching a little, “You guys are wasting it all.”

“Lighten up, George!” Dream laughed from the couch, “You’re acting like Susan!” George rolled his eyes and shook his head. He grew used to the persistent teasing from Dream after years of the same routine.

Well, the same routine for years until now, George thought to himself as he ripped the plastic off of a new bag of microwavable popcorn. He sighed as he unfolded it and tossed it in the microwave, What the hell am I gonna do now?

George’s head twisted around as he heard footsteps come up from behind him. A sigh of relief erupted out of his chest, it was just Sapnap. He put his hand up to his chest, “Jeez, Sap, you scared me.”

“Sorry, sorry,” Sapnap put his hands up in defense, “I’ll announce myself next time. Now,” He put both his hands on the granite counter, “Why’d you leave all of a sudden?”

“I didn’t,” George rolled his eyes and the microwave beeped, “I was getting more popcorn since we were running low, duh.”

“George, we already have another bowl in there. You should know that since you got that one too,” Sapnap leaned in, “So tell me, why’d you leave all of a sudden?” His tone turned cold and George gulped, Shit.

“I must’ve forgotten about that,” George lied, dumping the bag into yet another bowl, “You know how forgetful I am, man,” He shook the bowl a little and picked it up, “Now let’s go back to the movie.”

Sapnap blocked his path, even though George was older than him, his build was larger ultimately, “Nope, what’s wrong?”

George tried to duck under his arms, he didn’t want to have this conversation, not when Dream was in the room next to him. Each time he swerved to go past Sapnap, he was cut off almost immediately. He sighed and rolled his eyes, “If I tell you, will you let me go?”

“Maybe,” Sapnap said and George rolled his eyes.

“Fine,” George turned and sat down on one of the bar stools, Sapnap followed his lead and took a seat next to him, “It’s about Dream.”

“Yeah, no shit,” George jabbed Sapnap in the side and he let out a light chuckle, “Okay, okay, I’m sorry. Continue.”

George turned to face Sapnap, eyes trained to his feet, “I wish I knew what he was thinking. About this entire situation, y’know?” George glanced up and caught a sympathetic look from Sapnap.

“Don’t we all wish we could know what someone was thinking about us?” Sapnap said flatly, “But we can’t know everything, so,” He tilted his head to the side, “Let’s talk about how you’re feeling instead.”

George sighed, tilting his head back dramatically, “To be honest with you, Sap,” His head still craned back, “I don’t know how I feel.”

“What do you mean?” Sapnap said and George readjusted himself in his seat, now looking directly at his friend.

“I’ve never felt like this towards someone before,” George groaned, “Much less a guy, and even more my best friend,” He rested his head on the counter, “I don’t know what to do, Sap. I’m so lost.”

Sapnap sighed and placed a hand on his shoulder, “Hey man, I get it. I really do,” At this George piped up.

“Really?”

“Yeah! Well…” He thought for a moment, “Not on this level I guess. But I have been in a very similar position before.”

George was comforted by the cold granite, he closed his eyes starting to doze off, “Well,” He said lazily, “What did you do?”

“I didn’t tell them how I felt,” Sapnap said, George tensed up, “And I realized later that it was a horrible mistake,” George looked up and saw a sad smile on his face, “But at that time, I never explored my feelings, I just shoved them back into a dark part of my mind. And I’m not going to let you do the same.”

“But…” George sat up and looked at Sapnap, fear danced in his eyes.

“But what?” Sapnap repositioned himself so he sat completely turned towards George, all attention focused on him.

George sighed, “I don’t know if I feel that way towards Dream. At all.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah now I'm in the mood for angst. Strap in because some shit is about to go down lol, anyways sorry for the late chapter! I wanted to make this one longer than the others and while it isn't as long as I wanted, I felt like I needed to get a new chapter out. As said in the previous chapters, all constructive criticism and feedback is appreciated. If any of the CC's involved are uncomfortable in any way, I will delete the fic out of respect towards them. Thank you for reading!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit made 1/04:
> 
> Fixed the italics whenever there are thoughts! Sorry for any confusion!

Dream woke up to a very loud crash from the kitchen and he launched himself off the couch, “What was that?”

“Sorry, Dream!” He heard Sapnap shout, “I’m just making breakfast!”

He was extremely sore, “What time is it?” He looked over and grabbed his phone, it was dead.

“Uh,” More crashing, “It’s 5 in the morning.”

Dream groaned as he rolled off the couch. He walked into the kitchen, hunched over and dragging his feet, he sat himself at one of the bar stools and Sapnap slid scrambled eggs in front of him.

“Have you woke up George yet?” Dream asked and Sapnap froze for a minute. Dream was too tired to think too far into it.

“Uhm, no. Not yet,” Sapnap said, cracking another egg into the frying pan, “I’ll go get him in a second.”

“Nah, I’ll go grab him,” Dream yawned as he got out of his chair, “You’re cooking it’s cool.”

“No!” Sapnap turned around and threw his hands on his shoulders, “I, uh, I mean no! Ahaha, I’ll go get him just make sure the egg doesn’t burn!” Before Dream could say anything, Sapnap ran off to the other room.

Dream raised an eyebrow and shrugged, “Okay, that wasn’t weird at all,” He poked at his eggs. He knew something was off and he was going to find out, but the pit in his stomach yelled at him to eat.

About half way through his food he sees a very annoyed Sapnap come back into the kitchen dragging a half asleep George behind him. Dream snickered to himself and George shot him an evil eye.

“What are you laughing at, green boy?” George squinted, annoyance seeping from every word. Dream laughed harder, wheezes coming out every time he tried to breathe.

“I’m,” Dream wheezed, “I’m sorry. It’s just,” He started to wipe the tears coming to his eyes, “You look like you just came back from the dead.”

“Either that or like he’s about to die,” Sapnap snickered and George jabbed him in the ribs.

“Shut up, Sapnap,” George huffed. Dream’s eyes caught how his baggy shirt exposed part of his collarbone. His breath hitched and he gulped, tearing his eyes away. George took a seat next to him and Sapnap slid his eggs in front of him.

“Over easy,” Sapnap laughed, “The worst way to eat eggs.”

George rolled his eyes and quickly ate his food, “Your opinion...mmph...is irrelevant,” He took a break from shoveling food into his mouth, “These are great by the way.”

“Thank you,” Sapnap bowed and started washing the dishes off and placing them into the dishwasher.

Dream, once again, was staring at George. _Damn_ , he thought, _didn’t think he could get prettier. Guess I was wrong._ He was drawn from his thoughts as Sapnap dropped the frying pan, making a loud clang.

“Ah shit, sorry,” Sapnap cleared his throat, “Guess I wasn’t looking hard enough,” Dream felt a blush creep up his neck and he looked to the side.

“Hey, don’t go breaking the dishes,” George mumbled, “That’s a nice frying pan.”

Dream laughed at George’s remark and rubbed the back of his neck. He looked over at Sapnap who winked and gave a thumbs up, Dream smiled back softly, “Please don’t break my dishes on your visit,” Dream said jokingly, _I’ll thank him later._ He pulled out his phone to check the time, “Shit,” he muttered.

“What is it? Are we late again?” George looked over Dream’s shoulder, placing his chin on his shoulder for support.

Dream didn’t breathe for a moment, “Uh...N-no I uhm...I forgot to charge my phone last night,” He pressed down on the power button and an empty battery flashed up at him.

“Oh, here,” George pulled a white cord out of his sweatpants pocket and held it out to Dream, “My phone is at 70%, keep your phone here and charge it. We won’t need them at practice anyways.”

Dream took the charger, “Thanks, man. I owe you one,” Sapnap raised an eyebrow and Dream shrugged. He knew he could’ve used his own but he didn’t want to, he was too lazy to.

“Oh, it’s 5:30,” Sapnap checked his watch, “We should head out, or else Susan is gonna get mad.”

George raised an eyebrow, “You’re coming with us?”

“Duh! Not only do I wanna see what you guys have done, but I would never pass up an opportunity to see Susan,” Sapnap laughed and George rolled his eyes.

“Dude, you have to stop hitting on her,” Dream laughed, “It’s gross,” Sapnap stuck his tongue out at Dream.

“It isn’t my fault you have a hot teacher,” Sapnap said and George pretended to gag, “Stop being so dramatic! Besides,” He looked at Dream, “Older people are always more attractive.”

Dream choked on his water and stood up, “Oh my god.”

“That means I’m the hottest out of the three of us,” George piped in, “Now I’m gonna grab my skates and we can go.”

As George walked out Sapnap called out, “Okay, Georgie!” And George flipped him the bird. Sapnap laughed and turned to Dream, who was zipping his duffle bag shut, “You have it bad man,” Sapnap leaned on the wall, taking a sip of coffee from an insulated bottle.

“What do you mean?” Dream asked, huffing a little as he lifted his bag, slugging it around his shoulder.

“George, man,” He said, “You keep making goo goo eyes at him,” He laughed, “If you get caught it’s going to be really awkward.”

Sapnap was right, he didn’t want to make this situation anymore uncomfortable than it already was, especially for Sapnap, “You’re right,” He sighed, “And, thank you for earlier. You really are a lifesaver man.”

“Hey, it’s no problem,” He laughed, “You owe me one, though.”

“Got it,” Dream said and George walked into the room.

“Okay let’s go, we don’t have much time before we’re late,” George said, running a hand through his now semi-fixed hair.

“Shotgun!” Sapnap shouted, running out the door.

“Hey, wait! This isn’t fair,” George shouted, running after Sapnap. Dream rolled his eyes as he watched his two best friends sprint out of the door. He walked out the door and locked it behind him. Then he was faced with a triumphant looking Sapnap in the front seat and George pouting in the back seat. George spotted him and sent him a pleading look, but Dream shook his head, Sapnap did call the front seat.

George exhaled on the window, making it fog up, and drew a frowny face on the window with his finger. Dream laughed and walked around to the driver’s seat. He opened the door and his face got slapped with loud music as he sat down.

“Jesus Christ, Sap,” Dream said, reaching to turn down the music, “Not so loud.”

Sapnap slapped his hand and Dream yanked it back, “Aye! No turning down 21 Savage, you hear me?”

Dream rolled his eyes, “Okay, okay, fine. But George gets to sit up front on the way back.”

George let out a loud whoop and Sapnap rolled his eyes as Dream pulled out of the driveway and onto the street. The bass vibrated the whole car as Sapnap loudly, and obnoxiously, sung along to the songs.

Soon enough, the boys arrived at the rink ten minutes early and they all filed out of the car. Sapnap waved the other two off as he made his way to the rink and George and Dream made their way to the locker room. No one was supposed to be at the rink this entire week because Susan had rented it out for them to use.

As they rounded the corner, Dream opened the door to the locker room, “After you, m’lady.”

George rolled his eyes and ducked his head as he walked in, “Oh be quiet.”

“Wow, not even a thank you? Rude,” Dream strutted in after. He turned to turn on the lights and was met with a thin opening, “What the?”

“What is it?” George said, turning around.

“The light switch is gone.”

“What?” George walked over to Dream, the room illuminated by the small opening in the door, “That’s impossible, you’re probably just missing-” He reached to turn on the light and was met with the same thing, a small slit in the wall, “What the hell?”

The realization hit Dream like a truck, “Oh yeah!” He piped up, “Susan did say that they were switching the light switches to these new key switch things,” He laughed, “Because they got too many complaints about kids flickering the lights while others were changing. Here I’ll go grab the key from the desk.”

As Dream turned around to walk out the door, they both jumped.

Click.

_Fuck._

“Dream, what just happened?” George’s hand instinctively found Dream’s.

“I think the door just shut.”

“Then open it, what are you-”

“It’s locked, George.”

“What?” George looked up to what he thought was Dream’s face.

“The door locks from the inside when the rink is closed,” Dream sighed, “We’re locked in.”

“Oh…” George said, “Wait! My phone! I’ll just call Sapnap, he can get us out of here!” George let go of Dream’s hand and ran over to his bag, shuffling through it.

After a moment Dream heard a frustrated sigh, “What’s wrong?”

“My phone,” George huffed, “I left it in the car.”

“Oh,” Dream said and the two sat in silence, tension laid thick in the air, “Well, what do we do now?”

“I’m not sure,” George looked up, his eyes adjusting now to the light, “We can stretch and wait for Susan to get here?”

Dream nodded, “You’re right, she’ll understand...maybe,” Dream and George started laughing and Dream sat down.

They started their stretches, chatting as the time went on. By this point, both of their eyes adjusted to the light. While neither of them could see everything, they could see one another. Dream wasn’t bothered by how he was closer to George than usual, he didn’t seem to notice. That was until he heard a sharp inhale from George.

“What’s wrong? Is it for your ankle?” Dream looked over, concern flooded his eyes.

“No...well, yeah but it’s just sore,” George said, leaning his head to the side.

“Let me see it,” Dream said and George obeyed, knowing that he couldn’t debate with Dream on this. Dream sighed and dropped his foot gently on the ground, “From what I can see, it isn’t swollen or anything so I’m not too worried. It probably is just sore.”

George let out a sigh of relief and leaned to the side, bumping into Dream, “Oh shit,” He shot back upright, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to do that.”

“Oh no,” Dream laughed, shining a kind smile, “It’s fine, I don’t mind. We’re friends after all.”

Friends, the word lay thick and heavy on his tongue. Just friends, it was so bittersweet. His smile turned somber and he looked away. _That’s what we’ll always be, right?_

“What was that?” George said, turning to look at Dream.

Shit, did I seriously just say that out loud?

“It’s nothing, just mumbling,” Dream laughed, turning towards George. Their eyes locked and he felt his heart clench and a frog found its way into his throat. He tried to swallow it but it wouldn’t go away. He blinked a few times, they’ve been in this position before.

“Hey.”

“Hi,” George stared back at him. Dream dared to breathe, his eyes were glued to George’s. His brown eyes were like a vortex, Dream was entranced. He let out a shaky breath and he felt himself move closer to George, eyes suddenly darting at his lips.

Alarms screeched in his head, he felt light headed. _This is wrong,_ he leaned closer, _this is your best friend,_ _Clay_. His arms moved on their own, his right hand gently holding George’s cheek, _He doesn’t want this, Clay._ Closer, they were so close, Dream became hyper aware of everything. He felt George’s soft skin warm under his touch, how perfectly their hands fit together like puzzle pieces. He took note of how his brown eyes swallowed him whole, leaving him breathless. Closer, he wanted to be closer. _Stop_.

“Is this…” Dream took a breath in, “Is this okay?”

 _Say no, tell me to stop_.

George’s eyes found Dream’s. He parted his lips, trying to say something.

_Tell me to stop._

George looked up at Dream again and nodded.

Dream leaned in, fast, he didn’t know what overtook him. Sirens blaring in his ears. Then he heard a door knob rattle and he pulled away. Both him and George turned their attention to the door.

The door opened and a bright light came flooding through. In the doorway stood a confused looking Sapnap and an equally confused Susan.

“What. The. Hell,” Susan muttered, “How...just...how?! You managed to get yourselves locked in a pitch black room. What am I going to do with you two?” Sapnap was giggling behind her.

“S-sorry, Susan!” George yelped, “Neither of us have our phones and we forgot about them switching the light switches.”

“Well,” She shifted and put a hand on her hip, “Hurry up, we have practicing to do. Put on your skates, and Nick,” Sapnap peaked up, “Come with me. I need help setting up.”

Sapnap saluted as Susan started to walk off and he turned to George and Dream and gave them a very excited thumbs up before quickly following behind.

Dream turned to George who was staring at the door frame, “So…” He muttered and George turned to face him, “I’m...sorry. Yeah, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize,” George said lamely, their hands still interlocked, “We’ll talk about this later, okay? Let’s just hurry before Susan yells at us again.”

Dream smiled and started to laugh, “Oh my god, did you see Sapnap? He was so happy to be around her,” George started laughing too, “Maybe we should lock them in the locker room next.”

George erupted in laughter, “Please, Sap would just faint from excitement!”

In a fit of giggles they stood up, finally letting go of each other’s hands. Dream felt a little colder, but more content. He didn’t feel so uneasy about where he stood with George. As they both walked over to the door, Dream opened it for the both of them.

“Hey, one more thing,” He said and George turned around, raising an eyebrow, “Promise that we’ll talk about it?”

George fully turned around and held his pinky out to Dream, “I pinky promise that we’ll talk about it later.”

Dream chuckled and interlocked their pinkies and they walked out to the rink. Both were equally as surprised to see Sapnap and Susan chatting, laughing even. Susan yanked her head over to the door and smiled.

“Okay boys! You know the drill,” Susan clapped her hands together, “Let’s do this.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year!! Starting off the year with a feel good chapter before I make everyone upset! As said in the previous chapters, all constructive criticism and feedback is appreciated. If any of the CC's involved are uncomfortable in any way, I will delete the fic out of respect towards them. Thank you for reading!


	6. Chapter 6

George stood there in horror.

_She’s pulling our leg right now. She can’t be serious._

The boys have been practicing for six hours now, polishing the first half of the routine. Susan had a surprise in store. To say the least, they weren’t happy.

“We have our first appearance in a week, and you’re suggesting we completely change the end of the routine?” George asked, painfully annoyed.

“It’s not the entire ending, you big baby,” Susan laughed, “It’s just the ending pose.”

“Well, don’t edge them, Susan!” Sapnap shouted from the box, “Tell them!”

Susan laughed and turned back to the two, very annoyed boys, “Well, since the story we are telling is about love,” She paused for dramatic affect, “The ending pose should be a kiss!”

George’s mouth dropped, “What? Susan, what are you thinking?”

Susan’s smile dropped immediately into a thin line, “I’m thinking about winning worlds, George. If you haven’t noticed, the competition is stronger, there’s more risk involved. Do we have a problem here?”

George didn’t even notice how Dream tried to voice his opinion, “Yes! A massive problem!” George shot his hand up in the air, “You don’t even know if either of us are okay with that and you just decided to throw it in there!”

“Get your head out of your ass, George,” Susan sneered, “It’s part of the routine, we can talk about this later, but my decision is final.”

“Hey, guys-”

“Your decision? What about, I don’t know, the people who are supposed to kiss each other?!” George snarled back, “I mean, seriously? You were going to just throw this at us, no warning, and expect us to be fine with it?”

“Hey, seriously I-”

“Well,” Susan shouted, “What’s the matter with it? It doesn’t have to be romantic! Why are you making this such a big deal?!”

“Alright, I think-”

“Because, Susan, I don’t fucking like Clay like that!” George screamed. His hand shot to his mouth and he turned to Dream, who was trying his best to hide how hurt he felt. Susan quickly straightened herself out and turned to Dream, who was just standing there stunned.

“Clay I-”

“It’s fine,” Dream said dryly, “If George isn’t comfortable, then he isn’t comfortable. We aren’t doing the kiss,” Dream turned around and skated over to his water bottle.

George didn’t dare say a word, he could barely breathe. He didn’t know why he said that. His mind was moving so fast. The cold air started to strangle him, his head burned, he was panicking. He looked over at Sapnap, who was practically running over to Dream, face filled with worry.

 _God damnit_.

George couldn’t move. His legs felt heavy, his lungs burnt. Everything was going so fast, too fast. He dipped his head back down. His throat was clogged, his brain felt like lead. The worst feeling was in his heart. It felt like it was being crushed, squeezed of every last ounce of blood that pumped through it.

 _I fucked up_.

His thoughts were like bullets. Everything was loud, his ears were ringing. He brought his hand up to his eyes and squeezed them shut. He really didn’t know what to do. The bright lights of the rink were too much. The silence was drowning him alive. Thoughts of Dream slipped in, when they were in the car, when they were in the locker room, how Dream treated him when he was hurt. It all slammed into him. Then he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“I’m sorry I didn’t take your feelings into consideration, either of your guys’ feelings. I should’ve talked to you guys beforehand. I’m so sorry.”

George looked up and saw Susan looking right at him. A sympathetic look laid on her face, George rarely ever saw her truly sorry. He shook his head, “No, I should be sorry. I took it too far, got way too upset. And now,” He turned over his shoulder to see Dream and Sapnap talking, Dream holding a faint yet sad smile, “And now I’ve made multiple people upset.”

Susan removed her hand and sighed, “You can leave early today if you want,” George jumped a little in shock and she smiled, “I’ll see you guys tomorrow. I think we made enough progress today. I’m going to go tell Clay,” And she walked out and around to the other side of the rink, interrupting Sapnap and Dream’s conversation.

George stayed on the ice, he wasn’t ready to leave yet. He wasn’t ready to face Dream. He turned to look at Dream again, but only saw Sapnap waving for him to go over.

“Hey,” He said, his lips pressed in a fine line, “Susan said you can leave.”

George nodded, “I know but..” He looked towards the door, “I’m gonna stay a little longer. I’ll get an Uber home. No worries.”

Sapnap sighed, “George, are you okay?”

George shook his head, “No. Put my phone on the front desk and I’ll grab it when I’m ready.”

“We can talk if you-”

“Sap, I’ll talk to you later,” George said and he turned around, “Just put my phone on the desk. Okay?”

Sapnap nodded, “Okay,” And he walked out of the rink, grabbing the water bottle Dream left behind.

George skated to the middle of the rink, some frost kicking up as he stopped. His mind was still a flurry. He thought back to when he was talking to Sapnap in the kitchen. How he thought of every excuse in the book to explain why he left the living room. He thought back what he said.

_“I don’t know if I feel that way towards Dream. At all.”_

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He started doing lazy circles, wondering what he was thinking at that moment. His thoughts slowed a little now and he sighed. He started to speed up a little.

“Ugh,” He groaned, “Why did I do that?”

He listened to the quiet scrape of his blades against the ice. He was calmer now, the sirens in his head died out and he was at peace again. Skating was one of the only things that could calm him down. The cold air wasn’t choking him anymore, instead it cradled him and comforted him. His limbs felt more fluid, he was able to turn more and gain speed.

George skated over to the wall and lifted himself to sit on the side. He let his feet dangle. The silence was comforting, all he could hear was the gentle whir of the fan. He went over his thoughts, did he actually feel that way towards Dream? He dropped his head into his hands. He really screwed it up this time.

“Is this okay?”

He remembered how he felt, how the butterflies fluttered in his stomach. He nodded. He fucking nodded. George was completely at Dreams will. He shook himself out of his thoughts. He was confused.

George hopped over the wall and started to take off his skates. He peeked at the clock above the exit of the rink. It was three in the afternoon. He sighed and grabbed his water bottle, walking out of the rink and making his way to the locker room. He tossed his skates lazily into his bag and sat on one of the benches. He rolled his neck out and leaned back, sighing to himself.

Regret leaked from every tiny crack in his heart. George wasn’t the best with words, he always jumbled them and said things he didn’t mean. He wasn’t good with emotions either. He squeezed his eyes shut and listened to the gentle ticks of the clock.

Maybe, he thought to himself, maybe I can fix this. He felt his phone buzz and he peeked at it.

Sapnap: Hey man! How are you feeling?

George ignored it and closed his eyes again.

_I can’t fix this._

He let his body relax. He felt horrid, guilt and regret coursed through every part of his body. He wasn’t panicking like before though, it was the after effect. The realization. George sighed again, drifting further and further into his thoughts until he started to feel himself doze off.

Then he woke up on the ice.

Dream was right behind him, hands gripping his waist as the spotlight made him uncomfortably warm. The ice felt foreign. Instead of bleachers filled with fans, there was an empty void. The air laid thick, almost crushing George.

“Dream?” George asked, attempting to turn his head to look at Dream but suddenly there was no one there.

George was alone in the middle of the ice. He looked around frantically trying to find someone or something. Then the music started.

His legs moved on their own, almost robotic. Following the routine perfectly as they practiced over and over. George slowly grew more comfortable and started doing the routine then suddenly the music stopped and he heard Susan’s voice.

“No, George, you aren’t getting enough height going into your jump. Again.”

The entire scene seemed to move backwards and suddenly George was at the start again. Dream was gone this time and he started to shift uncomfortably.

“What’s going on?” George asked quietly but before he could get an answer the music started again, faster.

His legs moved on their own, following the routine. After he cleared one of his turns he felt Dream’s hands again. George decided not to look, he needed Dream for the next jump.

As he turned to go into a toe loop, the rink went dark and he tripped. George’s body slammed into the ice and he slid to the side. Suddenly, the spotlight shifted to the opposite side of the rink. George realized what was happening quickly.

It was what happened earlier, Susan was telling them about the kiss. But instead of George yelling, Dream was. The exact words came spewing out of his mouth, every word laced with poison.

“No,” George muttered, slipping again as he tried to get up.

“Your decision? What about, I don’t know, the people who are supposed to kiss each other?!” Dream snarled, “I mean, seriously? You were going to just throw this at us, no warning, and expect us to be fine with it?”

George frantically tried crawling back to his feet, “I didn’t mean to say-”

“Well,” Susan shouted, “What’s the matter with it? It doesn’t have to be romantic! Why are you making this such a big deal?!”

“Please, I didn’t-”

“Because, Susan, I don’t fucking like George like that!” Dream screamed.

“Stop it!” George shouted, his voice cracked. His heart stung. The words repeated themselves over and over.

 _He doesn’t like you, George._ The void mimicked his thoughts like a broken record. It kept repeating itself over and over, hammering the thought into George’s skull. _He won’t ever like you._

George sat on his knees, hands slammed against his ears trying to block out the taunting voices. The void was swallowing him whole. He choked out a silent sob.

“Please,” He murmured, shaking.

Then the scene changed again. George dared to look. The spotlight was back on the center of the rink. However, George never remembered this scene.

Dream was holding George’s chin up so that they were staring at one another. The music was only a few beats away from ending and the end of the routine was so close. Then, right when the kiss was supposed to happen, Dream leaned in and whispered.

“You’re the one who said you didn’t want this.”

George repeated the phrase over and over again in his head. Dream was right. George had started this whole charade, this entire game. From the very beginning it was him. He was the one who suggested moving in, he was the one who flirted jokingly, he was the one who let Dream almost kiss him multiple times.

Suddenly, the spotlight shut off and George was alone. The dark was suffocating. He looked around, desperate for something, anything. Nothing came, no voices, no scenes, it was just him and the cold and unforgiving ice.

He was alone. Scared. George was cold, he felt vulnerable. He started shivering, crossing his arms and squeezing his body.

“I’m so sorry.”

He jolted awake.

George held his hands up to his face, turning them frantically. He brought them up to his face and felt dry tears across his cheeks. He felt around the bench next to him and grabbed his phone.

It was nine at night.

He had eleven missed calls from Sapnap.

Over fifty frantic texts.

The most recent one caught his eye.

Sapnap: I’m on my way right now.

8:47 p.m.

He checked the time again.

9:07 p.m.

Then he heard frantic footsteps rushing down the hallway, each one getting louder. George turned his head towards the door, Sapnap stood there. His expression mixed with happiness, worry, relief, and anger. Sapnap walked in.

“Oh my god, George! Never do that to me again! I thought you got kidnapped or died!” Sapnap shouted, then he wrapped George into a hug. George sighed and hugged back, feeling Sapnap relax a little, “Seriously. I was terrified, man.”

George pulled away and looked at him but before he could say anything, Sapnap grabbed his face.

“Holy fuck you look bad. Have you been crying? What happened?”

George pushed his hand away, “I’m fine, I just fell asleep.”

Sapnap gave George a frown, “You know that you can talk to me about anything at all, right?”

George started to shove his stuff into his duffle bag, “Yeah,” He zipped it up, “It’s just...the entire situation today. I...I really fucked up, Sap.”

Sapnap tilted his head and nodded, “I’m not going to lie to you, you really did. But you can get through this, you two are the strongest people I know,” He lended George a sympathetic smile and George just nodded.

“Yeah...thanks, Sap. This is supposed to be a vacation for you, and now I’m dragging you into a whole crisis and that is so unfair to you,” George sighed, he had to start apologizing to everyone and Sapnap was the best place to start, “I’m sorry.”

Sapnap laughed and slapped George on his back, causing him to jump a little, “It’s all good! Besides if it wasn’t for me, you might’ve been stranded at the rink for the night! It’s what we do, man.”

George smiled a little and stood up, “Thank you, really. Without you, I think I would be an even bigger mess.”

Sapnap and George laughed and started to walk out of the building. They both got into the car and that was when George noticed something strange.

“Wait, why are you driving Dream’s car?”

“Oh, yeah about that,” Sapnap said, “I may have left a lazy note for him on the kitchen counter saying that I took the car to come pick you up because I thought you died.”

George just stared at Sapnap for a minute. Then he nodded, Sounds about right. And they drove off.

George laid his head against the window, he felt slightly better now that Sapnap was there but a lot plagued his mind. He didn’t know how he would face Dream. He didn’t know what to even say to him. He sighed quietly to himself.

_Guess I’ll figure it out when the time comes._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lol, heyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy. I'm getting happier with my writing. That is all. Criticism and suggestions is completely fine and encouraged. If Dream, George, or any other CCs involved are uncomfortable by this I will take it down immediately. Thanks for reading!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is mostly a memory chapter for context! However some interesting stuff does happen that I feel like you all will love!! :D

Dream was half asleep in the kitchen when he heard the front door creak open. He rested his head on the cool granite, holding a lazily folded paper. Dream didn’t care enough to look up when he heard George whisper to Sapnap.

He heard more mumbling, part of him wondered what they were saying. He knew they were talking about him, but why? Why when he was laying right there?

Did George even care?

A set of footsteps faded to where Dream assumed were their room. He felt a hand press against his back and he groaned. He didn’t want to talk to anyone, he just wanted to hide. He didn’t want to face the harsh reality. George’s words played on repeat all night.

He was smarter than this.

“Hey man,” Dream heard Sapnap whisper, his tone was worried yet caring, “You should get to bed, what’s that in your hand?”

Dream glanced up at the paper he had folded between his fingers. He closed his eyes again and shrugged, dropping the paper on the counter top. He felt Sapnap’s hand leave his back.

He was tired. The day went from blissfully sweet to bitter in the span of a few hours. Dream didn’t talk since the incident, he drove home in complete silence. His heartbeat slammed against his head as the phrase repeated itself over and over again.

_I knew he wouldn’t be okay with that_ , Dream thought to himself, _Why did I let hope cloud my judgement?_

Sapnap hummed, “I know you were worried about him too,” Dream glanced up and saw him reading the now unfolded paper, “Do you want me to give him this?”

Dream stared for a second longer. _Do I want him to read my thoughts?_ He sighed.

Earlier he walked out of his room, an unsettling silence made itself painfully present. He went to go check on Sapnap. Dream walked down the hall, hand dragging along the wall mindlessly. His mind was a flurry of memories turned sour, words that were once honey now dripped poison.

For the first time ever since Dream met George, he felt cold. More than just cold. Dream felt frigid. Like the ice he skated on found its way into his veins. He shivered.

Maybe it was realization setting in.

He drifted closer to the wall. Dream sighed. His heart ached, sorrow flooded his bloodstream. But what could he do? He already came to terms with the entire situation. Dream knew how George felt now. In all honesty, part of him was glad. He got the closure, just not the closure he wanted.

He wondered what would’ve happened if they had those unspoken conversations. Would things be different if they didn’t dodge the elephant in the room? He shook his head. _It’s in the past now, let it go._

Dream stopped and looked up at a picture on the wall. It was their first ever championship as partners. He burned holes into the picture with his stare. George looked so happy, a massive smile on his face as he held up the silver medal. The other arm draped around Dream’s shoulders in a semi hug. Dream was smiling too, mimicking George’s pose.

He remembered that day perfectly. George was practically bursting at the seams with excitement. Dream would pay to see him like that again. Two things stuck with him that day.

It was right before they started their performance. George showed no signs of nerves, he was so confident. They had practiced that routine so much that it was as normal as breathing. As they were getting into their starting pose, Dream whispered.

“Are you ready?”

He saw a small sigh escape from George and he smiled, “If you’re here to catch me, I’ll be ready for anything.”

The puzzle pieces started to fit together now.

He remembered how the light fell onto them, how it was the first time he realized how beautiful George was. How the ice specks sparkled in the air, Dream swore it was out of a Disney movie. He felt George nudge his shoulder lightly and he cleared his throat.

“One more thing.”

Dream remembered everything now, why he felt warm when he was with George. Why he let him into his hectic life. Why he even considered skating with him.

He remembered how easily it was for George to break through his walls. How he trusted him with anything and everything. How whenever he was with George, everything else ceased to exist.

“Yeah?”

It slammed into him without warning, knocking the wind out of him. He understood everything now. It became as clear as the night sky. His breath hitched and he tore his eyes away from the photo.

“I-”

The music interrupted George.

Dream was ripped out of the memory. He grabbed his green hoodie like it was the only thing that’d save him. His head spun violently, bile pooled in his stomach. Nausea swept him up and took him away. Dream started walking faster, he didn’t realize that he was until he stopped in front of a door.

“Oh my god,” Dream slumped to the floor. The realization bit at his heart. Unknown feelings found a new home in him and he was not happy.

He brought a hand up to his head, gripping his hair. Letting out a sarcastic laugh. Holy shit.

“I’m in love with George.”

The next thing he knew he was in his kitchen, reading a note. In practically chicken scratch it read:

_Took your car, going to find George, don’t do anything stupid._   
_-Sap_

Dream sighed and grabbed an old receipt from the junk drawer and a pen. He needed a way to let his emotions out. His mind flooded with warnings, but he waved them off.

He just needed to do this.

Just one thing for himself.

The pen made its way onto the page and words started to pour out.

_Dear George,_

_Before you stop reading and throw this way, please listen. I know it’s weird for me to drop all of this on you so suddenly but, just listen._

_I think I’m in love with you._

_No, I know I’m in love with you._

_I love the way that your eyes crinkle when you smile really wide to how your laugh is so carelessly light. I love when you pout over the bakery not having cinnamon swirl bagels and how you bite the inside of your cheek when you get really frustrated._

_I love when we skate together. I love how it feels like we’re the only two people in the world. I love when the spotlight is on us, how it makes your eyes look like they’re filled with honey and how your skin looks almost ghostly in the light._

_I love you. Every single thing about you. Even the tiny details, like your freckles that are dusted across your nose so lightly that you can only see them when you’re up close._

_Every second of every day my mind is flooded with thoughts and memories of you. Of us. This entire day has been spent with me thinking of when we were in the locker room. We were so...close._

_I was ready to throw everything away if it meant that I could finally have you._

_When you nodded my mind went into a frenzy. A mix of euphoria and fear. I don't want to think what might’ve happened if Susan and Sapnap didn’t come in. I’m scared to think about it._

_Then I think back to what you said today, about how you aren’t attracted to me the same way as I am to you._

_Did you really mean that?_

_It stung, it hurt like hell actually. I felt like my world suddenly turned cold. Your warm eyes turned bitter and cold. Every part of me felt like it was freezing over. That’s why I got out of there as fast as I could. I came up with a lame excuse and ran off. I hid from my feelings and confrontation._

_And I left you there, without a car and alone._

_I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have let my emotions come before our friendship. I didn’t even consider how you were feeling. I’m so sorry, George. It was stupid of me to just leave and ignore you. I’ll do anything to make it up to you._

_When I got home I just layed in bed. I ignored everything and let myself wallow in self pity. Then I got up a while later to go talk to Sapnap and I found myself in front of the photo of us with our second place medals. That’s when it hit me that I didn’t just like you._

_George, it was always you._

_Ever since that night, it’s always been you._

_And I don’t think it’ll ever be someone else._

_Love, Dream._

Dream looked up at Sapnap, his memory fading. Sapnap was still holding the note in his hand.

Dream sat up and sighed, “No,” He reached out and grabbed the note, “I might tell him, I don’t know. I just…”

“Need time?” Sapnap raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Yeah,” Dream stood up and stretched his arms over his head, “Exactly.”

Sapnap wandered over to him and placed his hand on his back, “Hey man, I’m here for you, whatever you need I’ll be here.”

Dream laid his head on Sapnap’s shoulder, “You’re a great friend, y’know? I don’t think I say that enough.”

Sapnap laughed and nudged him, “I already know I'm great, duh.”

The two boys laughed together quietly for a while. They chatted some more and Dream asked what they were whispering about when he and George walked in. Sapnap assured him that it was nothing about him, just talking about what life was like right before he moved. Dream sighed, relieved and yawned.

“Yeesh,” He muttered through another yawn, “What time is it?”

Sapnap glanced over to the digital stove clock that was casting a faint green light in the kitchen, “Holy shit, it’s three in the morning.”

“We should get to bed then huh?” Dream hopped off of the kitchen counter and started walking towards his room, “Goodnight, Sap. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Sweet dreams, Dream!” The two laughed at the play on words and went their separate ways towards their rooms. Dream found himself in front of his door rather quick.

He nudged his already partially open door and walked in. The comforting smell of mahogany and teakwood flooded his senses, along with the slightly cooler air. He looked down to the sound of tiny steps and a soft meow.

“Hey, girl, tired?” He crouched down, petting Patches’ head to which she returned the affection by mewing in approval. Dream laughed and scooped her up into his arms, cradling her like a baby.

Purrs immediately erupted from the cat and Dream laughed, “Sorry I’ve been out of it all day, I’ll make it up to you with treats tomorrow. Now come on it’s bedtime.”

Dream lowered Patches to the foot of his bed where she quickly hopped out of his arms and into a warm ball of fur. He slumped into bed, wrapping himself in the massive grey comforter. Dream stared out of his window, the moonlight sending a comforting light throughout his room.

Whenever he couldn’t sleep, he would count the stars. One, two, three. They twinkled and danced against the deep blue sheet behind them. Dream remembered that when he was younger he thought that twinkling meant that the stars were talking to each other. Sometimes he still thinks that.

Pretty soon, he felt his eyes start to droop and he surrendered to the night. The stars continued to dance and sing, shining brighter and brighter until the sun rose the next morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I REWROTE THE FUCKING NOTE THREE DIFFERENT TIMES BECAUSE I COULDN'T GET IT TO SOUND GENUINE SO I WROTE HOW I FELT ABOUT MY GIRLFRIEND PFFFFT- anyways, thank you for reading! Updates may be slower do to school starting back up for me but I will try to be as frequent as possible! As always if anyone involved in this story is uncomfortable in any way I will take it down out of respect.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is definitely a long chapter! Make sure to grab some water and some snacks if you haven't yet today! Read end notes for an announcement!!

The next morning came quickly. George and Sapnap were standing in the kitchen, eating some Frosted Flakes. Sapnap nudged him.

“I’m surprised you’re up this early,” Sapnap said, glancing over at the oven clock that read 4:50.

“Mm...couldn’t sleep,” George muttered, stirring his cereal, obviously extremely tired.

The night had swallowed him whole. George spent his night on edge, his head was a whirlpool of emotions. To be fair, he did try to go to sleep a multitude of different ways. He even decided to try warm milk, which was, shockingly, the most disgusting thing he has ever drank in his life.

He pushed his half eaten bowl of soggy cereal away and rubbed his eyes. Frosted Flakes soggy placed second in the worst things he’s ever eaten/drank list. Sapnap peered over at his friend and laughed.

“What?”

“Do you not like Frosted Flakes or something?” Sapnap giggled, “There’s at least ten different cereals in there you could’ve had.”

George rolled his eyes, “No no, I just hate soggy cereal. It feels like you’re chewing on wet paper towels.”

“What? No, you’re wrong,” George raised his eyebrow, “Soggy Frosted Flakes are so good, you just don’t have taste. Probably because you’re Bri-ish,” Sapnap said in a horrible British accent.

George deadpanned, holding back a laugh, “You’re disgusting.”

“Am not.”

“Are too!”

The boys exploded into a fit of giggles, tossing are nots and are toos back and forth. Time seemed to go by extremely slow. They debated back and forth, how soggy cereal is better because of the flavor or how dry cereal had better texture. That was until Sapnap surrendered.

“Okay, okay, fine! Agree to disagree!” Sapnap laughed, shoving George a little.

This was nice. George didn’t have to think about how the qualifiers were in two days or how practice was knocking on his door or dumb memories that haunted him. Not even his emotions or Dream.

Or...Dream.

George’s once light and airy mood fell from the sky and slammed into him. His smile fell and pressed into a fine line. He wasn’t ready to face Dream, much less skate with him.

Sapnap had told him on their way back to the house yesterday that Dream refused to talk the entire ride and how he locked himself away in his room. George felt a pang of guilt, he still didn’t know how Dream felt towards him but he knew that Dream was his best friend. He knew that best friends didn’t make the other shut themself out.

His heart sunk, even if Dream felt the same way towards George as he did towards Dream, he felt like he crushed any possibility of something blooming. His harsh words burned on his tongue and wrapped around his neck.

Sapnap seemed to notice the sudden change in George’s demeanor, “Hey, what’re you thinking about?”

George looked up from his thoughts and gave a lazy smile, “Oh, nothing! Don’t worry ‘bout it,” George darted his eyes around, searching for something to change the conversation, “Oh shit, it’s five thirty! You should go check on Dream, we have practice soon.”

This immediately threw Sapnap off of the previous conversation, “He hasn’t even had breakfast! C’mon, we need to get him up,” Sapnap started walking towards Dream’s room and George quickly followed.

“W-wait, ‘we’? Why do I have to come?” This wasn’t a part of George’s plan.

“Yeah, in case he doesn’t wake up, I need someone to help drag his big ass out of bed,” Sapnap laughed and George sighed in relief, “Also because you’re dreading the thought of seeing him so, thought this might help.”

Okay so maybe Sapnap could read George like a book.

The two approached the room and Sapnap opened the door. To George’s surprise, Dream was still asleep, curled up into a ball facing towards the windows in his room. Something threw him off, Dream was still in his clothes from the day before. Something was wrong.

George stayed in the door frame as Sapnap walked into the room, “Dream! C’mon man, you gotta get up. You’re going to be late to practice.”

Dream didn’t even move, “I’m not going today.”

Sapnap turned towards George with an eyebrow raised and he shrugged, George didn’t know that Dream was gonna say that.

“Dream, you never miss practice. What’s up?”

Dream just curled into a tighter ball.

George was confused, well more like flabbergasted. He never thought he would see his best friend, who always woke up before sunrise, in bed thirty minutes before practice. Then George realized, this was because of him.

His breathing stopped as Dream turned slightly and he dipped out of the room. Sapnap could deal with it, George couldn’t bring himself to look at him any longer. He caused this, he caused all of this. George stood outside the door, still listening.

“Qualifiers are in a couple of days, Clay. The routine isn’t as perfect as you want it to be, right?” Sapnap tried his best to reason with Dream, George knew that’s what he did best, “Get up, man, today’ll be better than yesterday.”

George heard the ruffling of sheets and a very annoyed sigh, “I know.”

His head was spinning. This was his fault. He made Dream feel like complete shit and what did he do? He stood outside of his room, eavesdropping like a coward. George couldn’t even face his own mistakes.

“What’s wrong, Clay?”

Dream’s response came out with zero hesitation.

“George.”

George’s breath stuttered. He heard it, how Dream said his name. His voice was so sad, broken. His heart panged with guilt. George knew that he messed up, but this? This was different. It wasn’t just a silly mistake that they could ignore, this was a massive wall. It blocked off every single future for them, George saw it so clearly. He couldn’t find a way over it.

He practically jogged away from the room and into the kitchen, turning on the sink. He bent over and splashed cold water on his face, trying to wash away the regret.

He looked up and was met with his reflection in the window. He’s never wanted to punch something so much. Hot tears rolled down his face. He knew that he couldn’t come back from this. He knew that they couldn’t come back from this.

He heard light footsteps come from the hallway, “So, good news is that you won’t be late to practice. Bad news is that Dream isn’t going toda- Holy shit George, are you okay?”

George was gripping the sides of the sink, he shook his head. He couldn’t even look at Sapnap.

Sapnap wrapped his arms around him in a hug, “Is this because of what Dream said? I’m so sorry, if I knew he would’ve said that then I wouldn’t let you stay. George, I’m so sorry.”

George kept his head down, “Don’t apologize for something you didn’t do. This is my fault,” His voice cracked, “Now come on, I need a ride to practice.”

George let go of the sink and tapped Sapnap’s hands. He couldn’t be around anyone right now, he just needed something to distract him. All he needed was another distraction.

“You know you don’t have to, right? I can text Susan and-”

“I know, let’s just go,” George interrupted, already walking towards the door to grab his bag.

He didn’t want to be anywhere near Dream. His eyes were swollen and red, his vision blurred. George knew he had to talk to Dream eventually, but right now he needed to be as far away from him as possible.

He heard Sapnap sigh softly behind him but he didn’t push him forward. They walked out and George heard the keys jingle as Sapnap grabbed them off the key hook. He slid into the passenger's seat and his phone connected to the car’s bluetooth, he was the only one who didn’t like using the aux.

George debated turning on music as Sapnap started pulling out of the driveway and onto the main road. He decided that the silence was too deafening.

George tapped on the shuffle button, waiting patiently for the song to start. He placed his phone down and laid his head against the window as the piano came in softly over the radio.

He didn’t realize what was playing until he found himself doing the routine in his head. George loved every part of the routine, really. Most of it was high energy, a waltz on the ice. He got to enjoy every second of it with his best friend.

Memories started to saunter in, happiness spilled out of each of them. When they first met, when they started skating together, the late night calls on Discord. Even the times where they were so close that it felt like nothing could touch them. He let the music drag him deeper into the ocean of memories.

The Florida sun melted through the window and warmed George’s skin. Even though it was winter, it was still warm. He remembered the first time he visited Dream, how shocked he felt when the foreign sun hit his skin. How Dream laughed at how he managed to get a sunburn in sixty degree weather.

The waltz continued, strings and winds twirling and filling the empty air of the car. He remembered how it felt when he flew in this time, how he was more excited, more nervous, than every other time. He remembered how good it felt to finally hug his best friend again.

George’s memories flooded his body with warmth. He remembered on the way to the rink that first day, at the stop light. How close they were, how he was entranced by Dream. How he didn’t want to pull away.

He remembered the following night, how he felt so comfortable around Dream that he just fell asleep. He remembered waking up in the middle of the night and feeling his arms wrapped around his waist and hearing soft snores from the other. George remembered how he felt at home.

George remembered how he gave into Dream in the dark locker room. How he felt his heart thunder in his ears and how he let his hands interlock with Dream’s. He remembered how the disappointment made his chest swell when they were interrupted.

Then the climax of the piece smashed every one of his comforting thoughts to smithereens. The brass came in, aggressive and loud. He remembered the words he said, how he spat poison from each vowel. He remembered how every siren wailed in his head, how hot he felt.

Worse of all, George remembered Dream’s face. He remembered how it looked. He had hurt Dream in some way. Broken. He broke him. George dug his nails into his palms, he hated how he was able to do that.

He remembered peaking at him, how he knew Dream was upset. How even though he knew, he stood there on the ice. George remembered walking into their house and seeing Dream slumped on the kitchen’s island. George remembered seeing Dream curled up in bed, shielding himself from the outside world.

That’s where the memories stopped as the music continued. George sat up from the window as he saw the rink come into view.

_The music continued._

George realized something. A smile came to his face and he turned to Sapnap, who was laser focused on driving. He started to laugh.

“Why are you laughing? Have you actually gone crazy?” Sapnap asked, tilting his head towards George but not taking his eyes off of the road, “You’ve had that song looping for about fifteen minutes now.”

George calmed down a little, the smile never leaving his face, “I know how to fix this, Sap.”

“Fix what?” Sapnap pulled into a parking spot and turned towards George.

“You’ll see,” George said cheerily, reaching into the back seat and grabbing his duffle bag. He hopped out of the car and shouted towards Sapnap, “See you later, Sap!”

“Uh...I...bye, George?” Sapnap said, confusion danced around his words.

George walked in and peered up at the clock above the entrance to the actual rink and smiled.

_5:50._

_Perfect._

He turned his head to the right and saw Susan walking towards the rink, head buried in her phone. George piped up, just the person he needed to see.

“Hey, Susan!” George shouted, waving at her and she jumped back a little.

“I never thought I’d see the day that you’re energetic and on time,” Susan said flatly as she looked around, “Where’s Clay?”

George flinched a little but recovered quickly, “He’s not coming today.”

Susan’s mouth pressed into a thin line, “You realize we have two days until qualifiers, right? We don’t have time to skip-”

“Before you say anything else,” George held out his hands and Susan shut up, “He needs it, okay? He isn’t doing hot after the whole fiasco. But we have three practices including this one, so let’s not waste them now.”

Susan put her hands to her side and sighed, “I guess you’re right. Well, now that I think about it, you do need to fix your jumps and your part of the dancing part because you’re still a little sloppy.”

George scoffed and started walking into the rink, “Since I’m so bad at skating, why don’t we get started?”

“Every day you start sounding more and more like me,” Susan laughed, following George in, “You’re right, let’s start! Go stretch.”

The day seemed to breeze by. Hours upon hours of jumps and spins were tiring as hell. George skated back into his previous spot, wiping sweat off of his forehead and stealing a glance at the clock on the wall.

_5:30._

_Thank you, God._

George was pulled out of his brief thanks as he heard Susan give two claps from the other side of the rink. Sure, he was tired from the jumps, but that wasn’t the worst of it.

He sighed.

“George, if you can’t do the choreography by yourself, then I won’t let you do it with Clay,” Susan shouted from across the rink, leaning on a very large speaker, “The judges will know when you’re relying too much on your partner!”

Ice dancing. Also known as the bane of George’s entire figure skating career. He could do technical stuff and he knew how to make every leap look effortless and graceful, but ice dancing?

Nowhere even close.

He stood up straight and went back getting ready to go into a jump before the dance. The music started and he did a small toe loop and went into the dance. His skates stuttered on the ice, following the beats of the brass.

They had been at this for hours now. George was tired and his legs were starting to grow sore. He mimicked a partner spin and twirled out, extending his hand, and retracting himself back in like a rubber band snapping back to its original form.

A cheer erupted from Susan, “There you go, George! Finally! That was great, now keep going.”

George skated in a quick circle as he would around Dream, then he pulled away. They had adjusted the dance so it wouldn’t be as difficult for George. George then used the tips of his blades to gain momentum in a running motion back towards his previous position. He mimicked grabbing a hand and then spun in another circle.

He knew that this part was supposed to represent the hardships in love, it was painfully obvious. At first, he shrugged it off, no big deal right? Then he started to connect every part of the routine back to Dream. This part was the part he couldn’t connect anything to.

Susan shouted from the side of the wall, “Okay! That was amazing! Do whatever you just did everytime,” She waved him over and he skated lazily towards her, “Now get some water and take a ten. We’re gonna run that part one more time and then you can go home.”

George nodded and slid into the penalty box, sliding his phone out of his bag and taking a drink from his water bottle. He tapped on his messages and sent Sapnap a text.

_Georgie: Hey! I’ll be out soon!_

A response came through almost immediately.

_Sap: Already omw don’t need to remind me ;))_

George laughed and turned his phone off and stretched out his legs. He had a plan in place, he knew it was going to work. It had to work.

He looked up at Susan, who was laughing at something on her phone and she waved at him, “Ready already?”

George nodded and rolled his neck out, “Yep, let’s finish strong.”

“That’s the spirit! Now, from the top!” Susan said enthusiastically and George made his way on the ice.

As the music started, his mind wandered into its safe space. If he was being honest, the only reason he could do the dance and some of the “lifts” by himself was because he imagined Dream was there to guide him. He let the music carry him across the ice.

George wondered what Dream was doing at that moment. Was he thinking about him as well? He breathed out, going into a leap. Probably not. He did a few spins and went through the synchronized part effortlessly.

He would walk into the house with Sapnap. If Dream was awake, then he’d talk to him right then and there, and if not, he’d wait until morning. He was going to tell Dream everything. And George wasn’t ready to be hit with whatever was coming for him.

Then he found himself at the ice dance. The god forsaken ice dance. The brass was loud and beautiful as always and he allowed himself to stiffen a little in order to match every beat. He heard Susan shout something in approval but honestly he didn’t care about any of that right now.

George only thought about Dream. What would Dream do here? How would he support his every move, matching if not surpassing George’s talent with his own? George sighed as he went into the spins.

Would Dream even hold his hand at this part?

Suddenly, he found himself in the ending position, gasping quietly for air as he listened to Susan’s claps.

“Perfect! Absolutely perfect! I have no worries about the qualifiers, just get Clay in here tomorrow and we will be on that podium,” Susan laughed and George started skating towards her.

“Thanks,” He said with a smile. George was tired. More importantly he was scared.

What if his plan didn’t work? What if Dream hated him and he was right? That there isn’t no coming back from his mistake? George shook his head, trying to clear it.

He placed his stuff into his bag and started following Susan out of the now dark rink. His eyes were immediately drawn to Dream’s car where Sapnap sat, scrolling through his phone. George started walking towards the car and Sapnap peeked up, spotting him and Susan. He definitely wasn’t waving that enthusiastically at George.

George turned around to see a very happy Susan, waving and smiling at Sapnap before walking the opposite way towards her car. George rolled his eyes and took a seat in the passenger’s seat.

He turned his head towards Sapnap, who was cheesing like an actual idiot, “Seriously?”

Sapnap turned to him and laughed, “What? I’m not allowed to be friends with Susan? What are you gonna do, George?” Sapnap laughed louder now and started pulling onto the street.

George ignored him and shook his head, staring out of the window as the street lights whizzed by. The fear started to get to him now. He understood the consequences that could come from his plan. Dream could hate him forever, kick him out, never talk to him again.

He realized that the stakes were way higher than he thought. In fact, the odds of Dream reacting negatively were higher than those of him reacting possibly. George was not a gambling man in the slightest.

He did favor how his mind danced towards the positive reactions. Dream accepts his apology, or...something else happens that could be good. George wasn’t sure what he wanted still because he didn’t even know if Dream still wanted to be around him.

However the possibilities that scared him the most laughed at him like lowly devils. Those were the completely neutral reactions. Neither good nor bad. The answers that still left him to question everything.

George tapped his finger against the door and sighed, maybe it was for the best he reacted negatively. At least they wouldn’t have to leap through hoops in order to be honest with one another. He rolled his eyes, he needed to stop being so damn dramatic.

By the time he got over his doubts bouncing through his head, they were back at the house. George grabbed his stuff out of the back and walked up to the door with Sapnap. He noticed Sapnap staring at him but before he could say anything Sapnap interrupted him.

“Don’t say anything to him. He hasn’t been out of his room all day, if he is out of his room then just go to yours so I can help drag him out of this slump,” George was about to say something again but Sapnap continued, “Talk to him tomorrow, okay?”

George nodded.

They walked in and that’s when he saw it. Dream was laying there on the couch on his stomach, eyes glazed over as he mindlessly watched something on TV. Dream looked up and made eye contact with George. Immediately his stomach did a flip, he felt like Dream was shooting daggers at him with a single look. Maybe Sapnap was right.

George turned and practically sprinted to his room, avoiding any possible fight that could break out. He flopped onto his bed and rolled onto his back staring up at the ceiling. He draped an arm across his forehead, studying each groove intently.

“This is gonna be a lot harder than I thought.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dream being dramatic, leo tingz. And yes I do have a burning hatred towards ice dance it is absolutely horrendous I hate doing it. Anyways, thank you so much for reading! On my twitter (@itsameas if you wanna follow) I said that I am currently planning another fic that will be ~60k words and 10 chapters and I was wondering if you guys would be interested in that? Let me know in the comments! With that being said, if any CC involved is uncomfortable with any of my work I will take it down out of respect.


	11. Chapter 11

Dream turned back to the TV, he was watching some nature documentary on parrots. He ignored the careful footsteps moving further from him. He shut his eyes, giving into the crushing weight of his eyelids.

His heart felt like it was being dragged down into some bottomless pit. His stomach churned at the thought of moving. He felt hollow. Empty.

Dream felt someone shove his shoulder, “Aye, Dream,” It was Sapnap, “What was that about?”

Dream shrugged his shoulders and grabbed the blanket he had draped across the back of the couch and covered his face. He didn’t know if it was anger or concern oozing off of his friend, but he just opened his eyes and turned his attention back to the documentary.

A huff came from behind him, annoyance, “Seriously? You’re still not going to talk to me?”

Dream didn’t do anything, he didn’t even sigh. He just closed his eyes. It’s not like he didn’t want to talk about it, it’s just that he couldn’t. Every time he tried to speak, his words got swallowed by some invisible beast. A large weight seemed to drop itself at Dream’s feet.

“Talk to me,” Sapnap crossed his arms over his chest, tapping a finger impatiently on his arm.

Dream squinted at his friend, matching his annoyance.

“I’m waiting.”

“No.”

“Well,” Sapnap’s face stayed cold and still, “You just did.”

“I don’t want to talk about him, Nick.”

“Then don’t,” Dream cocked an eyebrow at Sapnap as he continued, “We don’t have to talk about him, I just want to talk about why your slump is so bad.”

Dream turned back to the television, “That has to deal with him.”

Sapnap let out an exasperated sigh and ran his hands down his face, “That’s not what I mean, you know that.”

Dream shrugged. To be honest, he didn’t know how to explain it. He turned back to his friend, “The couch makes me feel safe.”

Sapnap peaked from under his hands, “Oh?”

Dream nodded, “It’s warm. But,” He turned away again and squeezed his eyes shut, “It suffocates me.”

Sapnap shuffled a little, “Is that why you’re here?” Dream nodded, “I see.”

“And...and,” Dream shook his head a little, “I feel like...I don’t know how to put it...I just…” He trailed off and Sapnap gave his leg a sympathetic pat.

“Take your time, we have all night.”

Dream sat up and pulled his legs into his chest, “I feel like...I feel like I lost a big part of me and...and now there’s this sinkhole in my chest that’s swallowing me whole.”

Sapnap sat crisscross, facing Dream, “I get that,” He sighed, “I think I’m starting to understand more now.”

Dream buried his head into his knees and sighed, “Why do I…” He bit the inside of his cheek, “Why can’t I just hate him, Nick? It’d be so much easier if I could just hate him,” His voice cracked a little.

Sapnap placed a hand on his friend’s shoulder, “I’m sorry but,” Dream looked up, tears threatening to pour, “I can’t give you that answer, you know that more than anyone else.”

Dream gripped his hair, “It’d be so easy if he could just go away! If I never had to see his face ever again!” A tear slipped out, “I hate him, Nick. I hate how he made me feel like there was something! I hate how he muddled up my thoughts with a look! I-...I…” His voice choked out.

The room seemed to spin. His eyes burned and his throat croaked out any poor excuse of a word. Both hands were locked in his hair and his breathing labored. Every nerve sent shots of guilt and disgust through his body.

Sapnap pulled his friend into a strong hug and Dream broke under the touch. Quiet sobs echoed through his body. His heartbeat clashed in his ears, his entire body mimicked an empty auditorium. His sobs turned into sniffles and the shaking turned into deep breaths.

“I…” Dream mumbled against Sapnap’s shoulder, “I don’t hate him…”

“I know, Dream,” Sapnap kept his arms wrapped protectively around Dream, “I know.”

The two sat there for what felt like hours until Dream completely calmed down. His eyes burned even worse now and his throat was extremely sore. Eventually, Sapnap pulled away and grabbed a glass of ice water for Dream, a soft thanks was mumbled as he gulped it down.

Sapnap sat back down on the opposite side of the couch and gave a sympathetic look, “Feeling better?”

Dream nodded, sniffling again and rubbing his eyes, “Ugh, I can’t believe I cried like a big baby,” He said, laughing a bit.

Sapnap smiled, “Hey, man, it’s all good. We all need a good cry sometimes!”

“That’s the cheesiest thing that has ever come out of your mouth,” Dream laughed. A warmth filled his chest, it was similar to the one the couch gave him but this time, it wasn’t swallowed up instantly.

He didn’t feel like he was suffocating. He didn’t feel dark anymore. Dream and Sapnap kept laughing and picking fun at one another. His mood brightened up.

Sapnap stood up and looked at the clock on the kitchen stove and squinted, “Ah shit, it’s late. We should go to bed.”

Right as Dream stood up, something in the back of his mind screamed at him to stay in the living room. He was tired but he could care less if he fell asleep on the couch, he’s done it plenty of times. He sat back down.

Dream nodded but looked back at the TV, “I’m gonna stay up for a little while longer. My documentary is still on and I’m actually interested in it.”

Sapnap raised an eyebrow but shrugged, “Whatever you say, Dreamie. I’ll be in my room if you need anything, ‘kay?”

“Yeah, I’ll go to you if I need anything,” Dream said, giving a small smile, “Night, Sap.”

“G’night,” Sapnap yawned, stretching his arms up and over his head before slugging himself down the hall.

Dream turned back to the TV to be greeted by a bunch of short videos of parrots doing various activities. He checked his phone.

11:56 p.m.

He was going to hate himself in the morning.

_Morning._

The hairs on the back of his neck shot up.

_Shit._

He had to face George head on.

Dream dragged his hands down his hands, “Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck…” He muttered to himself before plopping onto his side.

He had to talk to George, he had to tell Susan why he wasn’t at practice. He shoved his face into the throw pillow right next to him and let out a muffled scream.

Dream laid there for a second and let the guilt flood his entire system. This little stunt he pulled today could be the cause of possibly the most embarrassing and ill prepared performance of his career. Probably George’s career as well.

He finally turned to face the ceiling. He counted each little dot, Dream laughed a little at his thought, “They look like little popcorn kernels…” He shot up, “I’m getting sidetracked. I need to figure out how to apologize.”

Dream drummed his fingers on his thighs. Annoyance built up quickly and he huffed.

“Why is apologizing so hard?” He slapped his hands down on his legs in defeat until he felt something in his pocket. Dream reached in and grabbed one of the pointy edges.

“Oh,” He pulled out a crumpled receipt and unballed it.

Dream shoved his head into his left hand, staring at the piece of paper, “This has to be a joke.”

His eyes drifted over the words, memory slowly piecing words to feelings. Dream put the note on the glass coffee table and he glared at it. Then he stood up and started pacing, never letting his eyes leave the note.

He could go to George’s room right now and slide it under his door. He could lay his feelings out once and for all and let the situation go right now. It would be so easy.

“But I can’t do that, that’s selfish damnit,” Dream continued to pace back and forth, “Maybe I should just throw it away! But...no then I’d be avoiding the elephant in the room.”

Dream lifted the note and stopped pacing, staring at it once more, “He doesn’t deserve all of this to be dumped on him,” He dipped his head back, sighing, “But he also doesn’t deserve to be lied to.”

The documentary continued to play quietly on the TV as parrots flew flashy colors across the screen. Once again, Dream had felt stuck in his own head. He was battling his own emotions once more.

Then the realization hit him as a lightbulb flashed in his mind. He grabbed the note and folded it neatly before shoving it back into his pocket. Dream speed walked down the hall, nerves exploding throughout his body. His footsteps radiated energy.

Finally, he found himself standing outside of a tall dark oak door. Dream took a deep breath in, giving himself small words of encouragement before he knocked. He raised his hand up to knock, until he dropped it immediately.

Dream huffed to himself, “Maybe this is a bad idea. Yeah, yeah this is a bad idea.”

He lifted his hand to knock again, closing his eyes. His limbs felt like lead, every movement was so painfully precise that he could’ve sworn it was like doing heart surgery. At least...that’s what he learned from Grey’s Anatomy.

Knock, knock.

A soft, gravely voice came through the other side of the door, “Mmm...come in…”

Dream breathed in nervously and opened the door to see a half asleep George squinting at him. The moonlight barely illuminated the room, but the white streaks of light made George look absolutely breathtaking. Dream positioned himself in the doorway and tore his eyes away before clearing his throat.

“We need to talk.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have returned for a weekend update! Lol the talk chapter is about to happen so that means it's gonna be a biggie. I will be out of town this weekend so I can't update, however I am active on Twitter @itsameas if you would like to see more of me there. As always, thank you for reading! If Dream, George, or any other CCs involved are uncomfortable by this I will take it down immediately.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They have a talk.

George shot straight up, fear turned his body cold. Dream’s face was absent of any and all emotion, George gulped. He adjusted himself so that he was facing Dream.

“Well,” George said, “Go on then, let’s talk.”

Dream took a few steps forward before turning to shut the door behind him. The room was engulfed in darkness, a chill swept through George’s chest and he shuddered. The faint glow of the moon made itself home through the gaps of the blinds.

A few more moments of silence passed by as George bit the inside of his cheek. He fiddled with his hands, looking at the pair of skates that laid next to his doorframe. Dream cleared his throat.

“What’s wrong with you?” He asked flatly.

George’s face contorted, a cocktail of confusion and offense made itself present. He raised an eyebrow, “What’s wrong with _me_?” George shifted to the side of his bed, letting his legs swing over.

Dream shrugged, “You’ve been acting...different.”

“ _I’ve_ been acting different? _I_ have been acting different, Dream?” George crossed his arms across his chest, a familiar warmth crept up his neck, “And _you_ haven’t?”

“Shit, I...fuck I didn’t mean it that way I mean-” Dream jumped a little, realizing how poorly he worded his previous statement. He shook his hands, "No, no let me-"

“Then what did you mean, Clay? Go ahead, tell me,” George leaned forward.

Dream took a step forward, his face illuminated by the faint light. George saw a faint blush that painted his face, “I mean...we both have been acting differently recently. Ever since you've moved in.”

“Yeah, no shit,” George said flatly. "Y'know, it's totally not like I just moved away from the one place I knew. It isn't that big of an adjustment," Sarcasm flooded his tone.

“George, just please listen to me-”

George pushed himself on the bed to stand in front of Dream, “No, you listen to me,” He took a step towards Dream, watching as the other stumbled back slightly, “You blatantly ignore me, avoid practice, only days before our first competition mind you, so you don’t have to see me, the only way you decided to show any interest in me today is when you gave me the fucking evil eye and now you’re standing in my room telling me that I have been acting differently. You opened up by asking what was wrong with me for god sake, Clay!”

Dream turned back slightly and glanced at the door, George didn’t spare a second.

“And now you’re trying to run away? After you put yourself in this situation? For fucks sake.”

“What? I- I’m not trying to run away, what are you-”

George balled his fists at his sides, “Don’t pull that shit with me, Clay!” He took a few more steps towards the taller boy, fury and venom spat from every vowel, “You don’t get to play victim here!”

“And neither do you!” Dream shouted, pushing a finger to George’s chest, “You act like you haven’t done shit to me, George!”

George recoiled at the contact slightly and scoffed, “Really? Then what have I done to you, hm?”

He immediately regretted asking.

Dream scoffed a little, “Well to start, you constantly avoided ever talking to me about any situation we found ourselves in! Remember the car? Oh! How about the locker room, you remember how we were about to, I don’t know, maybe you can fill in the blanks, George!”

“You never brought it up!” George shouted, hand shooting out to the side, "I can't be the one to bring everything up."

“You never talk about anything, George! Not your emotions, not your ideas, no all you do is sit there and fucking bottle everything up. You leave me to try and solve you like some...some puzzle! At least I tried to talk about us multiple fucking times!” Dream towered over George, “ _You_ just avoided it, _you_ hid from it like a fucking _coward_.”

George’s mouth slammed shut, he felt something crack inside him. He tore his eyes and forced them to look at the ground. Dream didn’t care.

“Or, what about all the mixed signals? Like how you were okay with me kissing you in the locker room but when the thought of us kissing was even mentioned in practice, you were disgusted by it! And how you never thought to apologize to me for the shit you said!” Dream didn’t back down, he got closer and closer every time George stepped back, "I can't fucking know every single thing that you think! You have to tell me these things!" 

George felt a frog hop into his throat, every word Dream was saying was right. George was treating Dream just as bad as Dream was treating George. He refused to believe any of it.

“Wow. And even now, while we're fucking fighting, you still refuse to tell me anything!” Dream sneered, angry fire flared behind his eyes, "So fucking typical of-"

“I’ve been trying to apologize!” George finally choked out, he felt his eyes start to burn, “I- I’ve been trying to come up with a fucking way to apologize! A way to tell you everything! I...I had this whole plan and- and now it's gone!”

This time Dream backed off slightly. Even more confusion flooded the room, "Wait, what-"

“Do you ever shut up, Clay? Jesus,” George brought a hand to his face, shielding the tears that stumbled across his cheeks. He didn't want to cry. 

Dream stood there, stunned. He’s only ever seen George cry once and it was when they won first place in worlds. But now George stood there, hot tears dripping onto the floor as his shaky breaths stuttered in his chest.

George’s own words felt like they would break him at any moment, “Just shut the fuck up,” He practically whispered. 

Dream reached his hand out, “George-”

George slapped it away and yanked his eyes from the floor, “Don’t fucking touch me!” He stumbled back a little, “Don’t. Not after everything that just happened. After everything we said.”

“I’m…” Dream started to say something, his mouth hung open and he stuttered, words trying to form but failing miserably.

“Just,” George sighed and wiped his eyes, “Just go, Dream. It’s late.”

Dream’s subconscious screamed, gripped the sides of his shirt and turned towards the door. George listened closely as the footsteps came to a halt but he didn’t dare turn around.

A huff, a click, a tiny creak, another click.

The footsteps slowly faded out to complete silence.

George turned to the door.

The room was dark, almost pitch black. The moon had been overthrown by dark clouds and heavy rain. A flare of lightning crackled across the sky, illuminating the room. Thunder shook the house.

George stared at the door. The tears started to pour once again, except this time he didn’t hide his face. The tears fell, hot and heavy upon his cheeks. A small sob escaped his lips followed by a small feeling of relief.

He fell. He fell to the ground, knees slamming into the tough carpet. Sobs wracked through the hollow theatre that once held his heart. His hands gripped the carpet, knuckles turning white. His eyes felt like salt had been poured into them and his throat was coated with sandpaper.

George stayed there like that for a while, he lost track of time. All he really remembers is the feeling of emptiness that came from crying all of your tears. He wiped his eyes and sniffled, he didn’t need a mirror to know what he looked like right now.

He slowly stood up, his legs shook violently. George sighed, trying to calm down still. Steadily, he made his way back to his bed and slumped into it, volunteering for night to cradle him to sleep.

It wasn’t as easy as he thought.

George was stuck, staring at his ceiling. The rain pounded on the window as the wind whistled outside. His mind was worse. He sat, thinking, trapped in his own mind. Every single word from the night seeped into his skin and ate away at his body.

“God damnit.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to the end of the introduction! Woo...that was a lot. This is just the beginning portion of the book and we have finally reached the end! I'm going to be taking a short break on updating any NEW chapters but I will be revising the first few chapters as well as writing a couple of one shots I have been aching to write. If you want to see previews or ideas of the future of this fic or others, follow me on Twitter @itsameas! As always, thank you for reading! If Dream, George, or any other CCs involved are uncomfortable by this I will take it down immediately.


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